Once More
by watchingfromtheforrest
Summary: "What exactly happened?" The woman's eyes glanced quickly over the data rapidly appearing on the computer before answering, "She's stuck." But it was so much more than that. She had just damned Rose Tyler to a continuous repeat of her own time line. Forever forced to live in a place where she knows exactly what was going to happen, and being able to do nothing to stop it.
1. Chapter 1

2:43am

The neon numbers flashed before her eyes and with a groan Rose Tyler rolled onto her back away from the clock, taking half of her light purple duvet with her. The new view of the dark outline of the dresser spurred her thoughts in the direction of the coming day and how she really ought to convince her mother that she didn't need to take her shopping because she had hardly enough room to fit anymore clothes in her closet at home. She thought fondly of the usefulness of a transdimensional wardrobe on a certain time and space ship and then let her mind wonder to the lovely captain of that ship.

Her first year in this parallel universe had been the hardest she had yet to experience in her brief 23 years of life. After arriving back at the mansion from Norway, Rose had proceeded to her designated room and did not come out for a week. Her mother had protested and tried everything she could think of to boost her daughter's spirits, but at the persuasion of Mickey and Pete she had finally left Rose to herself. However at the end of the week Rose had emerged looking happy and healthy at least on the surface.

_Mickey and Pete were both sitting at the large table adjacent to the kitchen, each nursing a large stack of pancakes. _

"_You know Pete I swear your stomach is an empty pit! Same goes for you Mickey!"_

_Jackie's comment lifted Pete's gaze from his breakfast to his lovely wife situated in front of the kitchens door. She looked absolutely radiant with the effects of pregnancy suiting her well and a small smile grazing her face. _

_Mickey swallowed his food before commenting, "Yeah, well there's only a few beautiful things that I can without a doubt be sure of in this universe and pancakes are one of 'um!" He gestured to the shrinking stack on his plate and continued eating. _

_Jackie turned to Pete, "An' what about you mister, what's your excuse?" _

_Pete opened his mouth to reply when the door was pushed open and Rose Tyler slipped through. Her white blouse bunching out of it place tucked into her black slacks as she attempted to maneuver around her mother without spilling her own pancake stack. The room was silent for a moment as Rose successfully walked around her mum then reached for the syrup on the table. With a grin that her mother thought would not grace her daughters face again, Rose leaned towards her parallel father. _

"_So Pete, Torchwood need an alien expert?" _

Although her parents and Mickey hadn't anticipated her reaction to this new life and Rose's apparent peace with her past, they were happy that she seemed to accept what happened and move forward with her life. Working at Torchwood Rose quickly became familiar with the controversy from her coworkers and from the Directors of other branches about her extremely young age and any sort of proven experience. However all thoughts of her qualifications were immediately forgotten two months after Rose started as a field agent.

"_I don't know."_

"_Excuse me?" _

_Jamie sighed, being the head of alien identification was something he thoroughly enjoyed and had many perks, but feeling like an idiot when explaining alien races to the head of Torchwood was not one of them. _

"_I repeat sir, I don't know."_

"_You're supposed to be the best! We have a hospital that's suddenly missing with four of Torchwoods agents inside. Now I need you to tell me what's causing this!" _

_The man standing in front of him was Senior Director Abernathy, all the way there from Torchwood 3 and was perfectly capable of making sure he never received another job again. Jamie swallowed and tapped his fingers nervously against the desk next to him. _

"_Look sir, there are no aliens we have record of who make it a habit to steal buildings with a large number of people inside." _

_The Senior Director, who at this point was rapidly turning a very unique shade of red, opened his mouth to respond when Director Tyler of Torchwood 1 stepped in._

"_Abernathy, leave the man alone, I am as concerned as you are! Rose was touring the maternity department in that hospital for Jackie who has not been in the best spirits as of late and I'm sure they will only go downhill at the news of her missing daughter, so for your safety and mine, stop yelling at this man and maybe we can figure out what happened!"_

_Abernathy nodded when suddenly the news casters voice echoed through the top floor of Torchwood tower from the television broadcasting the new coverage in the corner. _

_The young female newscaster with perfectly sculpted blonde hair was standing in front of the reappeared hospital with patients pouring out in various stages of distress. Medics were quickly administering oxygen masks and policemen were already storming the hospital. _

"_The Hospital has reappeared! And patients are coming out as we speak! Sir, please tell the viewers at home what took place here!"_

_A ragged man looking to be in his thirties and in a state of shock glanced at his arm where the reporter had grabbed him as he was walking past._

"_We- we- we were on the moon!" He managed to choke out._

"_The moon?" The reported asked incredulously._

_The patient nodded realizing that the faster he told what happened the sooner he could leave._

"_And there were rhinos! And we were running out of air and then she saved us!"_

"_She?"_

_The sound of the television was cut off as the elevator doors opened and four people rushed in and one was carried. _

"_Rose!" Pete shouted as he ran to where she was laying extremely still in the arms of one of the agents her blonde waves fallings over the man's arms. The man carrying her moved forward and Pete was suddenly aware of the protective stance all the agents had around his daughter. _

"_We need to debrief, all of you in the conference room!" The senior Directors booming voice seemed to have little effect on the agents who were hurrying past the small group in the direction of the infirmary._

"_Evans!"_

_Paul Evans was a senior agent of around forty five who was known for his tough no nonsense attitude as well as his extensive battle scars. _

"_Sir?" The man's gravelly voice held irritation as he looked off towards the other disappearing agents_

"_What exactly happened?! We sent you four to investigate the unusual static build up and the hospital disappears! And what this about rhinos and the visiting moon?! Then you come back with an unconscious off duty junior agent, and no one seems to want to tell me anything!"The senior director at this point had to pause for breath as his face was rapidly turning unnatural shades of red once more._

"_We were investigating the static build up when it happened. The rain suddenly started falling up and then we were on the moon. Don't ask me how it happened because I don't know. That's when the rhinos came in, they started scanning everyone in the hospital starting at the bottom floors and working their way up. Everyone in the hospital was panicking, and we did our best to calm people down but we were on the bloody moon! The men were staring to get nervous because we obviously had never encountered any of this in training and the air was starting to get thin-"_

"_How was there air? You were on the moon?" _

_Pete nodded at the Director's question thinking the same thing himself._

"_Apparently there was a force field of some sort, but I'm getting to that."_

_Pete Tyler was quite surprised that Evans was even telling this story, he didn't think he had heard the man speak more than four words at one time. _

"_So with the air thinning most of us agents were basically coming to terms with dying up there and we were planning on making the most of that by taking out the rhinos when agent Tyler walked into the waiting room we were positioned in. She told us that the rhino aliens were called Judon and were looking for an alien hiding in the hospital and that we were going to help find it. So with no other real options we followed Tyler and found out that the alien we were looking for was something called a __Plasmavore__ because it sucks the blood of its victims and can appear as their whatever they are on the scanner."_

_Evans grinned wolfishly at the disgusted look on Jamie's face as he listened quietly in the background. Jamie noticing the senior agent's eyes on him decided to comment._

"_How in the world did you figure out the aliens species?"_

_Evans grin softened. "Tyler told us." _

_Jamie snorted, "And how would she know?"_

"_Because her Doctor told her about them." The tone the agent used made it seem like this was obvious._

"_Her doctor?!" Jamie scoffed, "That doesn't even make-"_

_Evans ignored him and continued on interrupting Jamie's rant. _

"_Anyway, so this plasmavore vampire thing had sucked quite a few of the people in the hospital dry so it was appearing human on the Judon's scanners. The blood sucker also had some hidden plans of blowing up the hospital and half of earth. Tyler however was completely calm during the whole thing, acting like this was completely normal and when we cornered the alien in the MRI room she gave herself up to the blood sucker. The Judon walked in on the thing sucking her blood and ran a scan. Rose said that she had foreign alien substance still on her from her traveling days, and apparently that was also in her blood. The scanner registered the plasmavore as an alien and took the thing away and brought the hospital back to its rightful position."_

_Evans paused and glanced up at the Senior Director._

"_She saved our lives sir, there is no doubt that everyone in that hospital would have died on that moon without her." _

Rose grinned as she remembered her first mission with the people who would one day make up the best team any of the Torchwood branches had ever possessed. Her team was the reason that after two years Rose was comfortable in this world, not completely happy, but comfortable. She had thrown herself into her training as a means of distraction and now was a master in hand to hand combat as well as quite adapt in a variety of weapons, self defense only of course. Rose was coping and had even dabbed in a bit of dating here and there, mostly to make her mother happy as Rose was still completely head over heels for a certain alien. But she didn't completely despise the dates either, some of the men were intriguing and Rose enjoyed a change of scenery. Finding the dates was not a problem considering she was the heiress to the Vitex fortune. However, besides the abundance of boys, being in the public eye brought a quite a few problems, the paparazzi being at the top of her list.

As soon as word got out about Jackie Tyler's mysterious return after being confirmed dead during the cybermen fiasco and the factor of the Tyler's apparent lost daughter whom Jackie had found while she was "dead", caused the paparazzi to respond savagely. Rose couldn't leave the mansion's grounds without being snapped by at least fifty different photographers that were stationed outside the house gate at all times. It was then Rose decided that she really needed her own place. She knew that it wouldn't stop the paparazzi, but she figured three Tyler's in one place was drawing them in, especially now that her mother would be showing soon.

Despite Rose's refusals both her parents would not let her pay for the new living quarters and they ended up buying the warehouse that Rose had fallen in love with. The place had been renovated so that it was now functional to live in and absolutely stunning.

Instead of at her house however, Rose was currently back in her old bedroom at the Tyler mansion. Her Brother Tony's first birthday was being held the next day, and as a faithful daughter she had volunteered to help in getting the house ready for the small party. She had conveniently forgot that her mother would obviously put her in her old room and all she desperately wanted was to be anywhere but here. This room was where she had embraced her doom to the parallel world and understood that she could never see the doctor again. Rose normally didn't believe in this kind of thing, but she just felt like all the emotions she wallowed in two years ago were still here and if she stayed in this room any longer she was going to drown in them.

With a small sigh, Rose pushed the duvet away and headed toward her overnight bag containing her running shoes.

* * *

The cold night air chilled her skin as Rose Tyler ran past a sign welcoming her to the Cardiff Natural Forest Reserve. The paved road suddenly gave way to a dirt path that strung throughout the entire park. Normally running in a dark forest in the middle of the night would scare most people, but then Rose Tyler was never like most people. The quiet of the forest was exactly what she needed at the moment and with the busy and more often than not dangerous life she lived, Rose found this reserve to be the only place she could really think and feel without other people trying to tell her what to do.

With each step Rose thought about the stressing aspects of her life and forced the emotions to leave her momentarily as she focused on the present and expelled the negative thoughts. This was not an uncommon occurrence for Rose as she often found herself sneaking off to be here whenever she felt stressed or over emotional at the oddest times. This visit was not disappointing as Rose immediately started feeling much better and enjoyed the peace that the Forrest had to offer. Of course, how could she have possibly realized that this would be the last time she was able to do so for quite some awhile.

* * *

A brown haired woman sat in a corner of what appeared to a sophisticated medical facility built in some kind of rock cavern. She seemed to be in deep thought as she stared transfixed at the light pink notebook she held in her hands.

"Subject is active, and heading towards the designated position."

The woman glanced up, the movement causing her shoulder length hair to fall slightly in front of her brown eyes as her mouth relaxed into a small frown.

"Proceed." Her affirmative was quiet as her soft voice echoed off the cave walls and even she heard the resignation in it. With a small sigh her head once more dipped down as she studied the worn notebook with a great interest, trying to ignore the young blonde runner in a Forrest being featured on all available screens.


	2. Chapter 2

White.

That was the only way to describe the place Rose Tyler found herself when she opened her eyes. The endless nothing that stretched infinitely in every direction was the purest form of the color she had ever seen, and immediately felt self conscious about her bright green running shorts and pink t-shirt. It was ridicules considering there was no one else but her, still she couldn't help feeling as if she was the only defiled object in this never ending space.

_What happened?_

The question did not come from her, but seemed to resonate throughout the entire space she was in. Rose was startled, but decided the ominous voice fit in quite nicely with wherever she was.

"I was…well we were…"Rose stopped as she pondered over the question.

"I have no idea." It was the truth, and while normally Rose would never admit something like this, there seemed to be no point in lying to whatever was talking to her. Besides, ten quid says this whole thing is just her imagination and she had hit her head while running.

Running.

"I-I was running!" Rose had no idea how she knew this, but it was the only thing she was been certain of since arriving in wherever the heck this place was.

"Well I could've told yah that." The bubbly voice with a heavy cockney accent was the last thing Rose expected to hear from behind her. Slowly she turned around and felt her breath hitch at the back of her throat. Standing in front of her was a grinning nineteen year old with a pink Punky Fish jacket and blue jeans.

* * *

"Is the subject reacting positively to the drug?"

There was a pregnant pause while the brown haired woman in front of him considered the question.

"Depends."

"On what."

"The next twenty minutes."

The man nodded seeming used to her curtness and swiped his access card across a scanner allowing him to leave the small medical room.

The woman, finally alone, leaned against the chair she was seated on and rubbed absently at her temples. She knew that this project was of uttermost importance to her superiors and she really needed to start acting like she was as interested in it as the others were. Absently she pulled the pink notebook out of the pocket inside her lab coat and a small smile whispered over her lips as she ran a finger over the cover. She only wished she had more time to work on-

Her musings were cut short at the sound of a small moan, and instantly she was by the side of the woman who issued it. Lying on a raised metal slab in the center of the room was the mysterious woman who appeared out of thin air two years ago. The doctor currently attending her however didn't care about any of that. After administering a second pain killer, she walked back over to her chair next to the table.

"Rose Tyler," The woman whispered, taking her limp hand. "I am so very sorry."

* * *

"So," Rose finally began after staring at the girl for a few seconds. "You're my subconscious." The tone in which she spoke, indicated that it was a statement not a question.

The younger version of her smiled in a slightly pitying way, as if she was going to have to explain something to someone she knew wouldn't understand.

"Look, I know what happened! I obviously had something traumatic happen' to me and you're just something that my brain worked up!" "It happens all the time! David from work got hit in the head by one of those sludge alien things back in December, and he was in a coma for a week!" Rose was growing slightly hysteric as she saw no change in the girl in front of her. "He-he Says he saw his dead dad who told him to stop wasting time and just ask Julie to marry him, and that his car keys were under the couch!"

Rose didn't know when the tears started; she just knew that they wouldn't stop. Slowly she sat down on the white flooring and glanced up through blurry vision at the younger version of herself.

She knew as soon as she saw her that she wasn't in a coma. As soon as she saw those clothes and her nineteen year old face, she knew she wasn't dreaming. Those clothes were what she had worn when she had looked into the heart of the Tardis, when she had taken on all of time and space to save the man she loved, the moment she had become something bigger than she could have ever possibly imagine.

But Rose was tired.

She was tired of trying to remember what it felt like to be completely happy and innocent and in love. She was tired of having to accept that she was stuck with this second rate life and that nothing will ever change that so she might as well buck up and move on.

But most of all Rose was tired of things happening in her life in which she had no control. She had been taken from the man she loves, thrown into a parallel world, and left wondering if all those feelings she was positive he had for her were nothing but youthful Romanticizing on her part.

The appearance of her past self was just two much.

She figured that an impossibly white empty world was the perfect place to finally have a good sob. The comforting arms that slowly enveloped her were just a bonus.

* * *

"She has quite a bit of brain activity."

"I noticed, start the scan right away, I would like to compare before and after."

There were four doctors working diligently around the body of Rose Tyler. Operation had not yet been approved by headquarters so the medical professionals were taking as many tests as they could without damaging the body beyond what was reparable.

The brown haired woman was looking on from above. There was a large sheet of glass that separated her from what was going on below. As hard as she had tried she had not been eligible for clearance to sit in with the doctors and "Observe the technique initiated by the senior staff members." She had really just wanted to make that no one tried anything harmful on the girl while she was unconscious. However as she could do nothing to help Rose Tyler from this position, she decided to indulge in her side project.

She had found the notebook in a café four years ago. She hardly ever visited this particular place, considering it reeked of sweat, adrenaline, and pain. It had been an old boxing ring but the owners had sold it to an indie couple who thought the cement walls and mildewed floors was exactly the type of environment people would like to drink coffee in. Apparently they were right, as the place never had less than ten people in it at all times, and considering it was twenty four hours, that was saying something.

She liked to think that someone had purposefully left it for her, right in the back of the shop at the table with the horrendous green stain on the wall beside it. The light pink of the notebook was what made her notice it at first, as the shop seemed to favor light tones of black and gray. And it was there at that table in her least favorite café that she discovered her salvation.

* * *

Rose took a deep breath and glanced to her side where her younger self was sitting.

"I'm ready for whatever you are going to tell me." she said, her tone strong and clear.

Young Rose grinned, and Older Rose was suddenly struck by the how different she looked back then. She saw the slight baby fat that came with just edging out of puberty and still trying to come to terms with her body. The longer blonde hair in need of a good root touch up and trim, and The baggy clothes and sweatshirt that were now in her room on the Tardis located in another universe.

It was then that Rose noticed the difference. Her younger self's eyes, while still sparkling and bright, had a sense of timelessness that Rose had only ever seen in the Doctor.

"Wait," Rose began, becoming slightly concerned. "Isn't you being her causing a paradox of some sort? I don't remember ever doing this, or maybe you're a different version of me?"

"You have done this, you just don't remember."

"I don't understand." Rose confessed.

"The Doctor had sent me back and I couldn't just let him die, so I looked into the heart of the Tardis." Whispered younger Rose.

"Yah I know, I did that." Rose said not understanding where this was going.

"I'm still doing it."

There was a heavy silence in the infinity of white as Rose tried to comprehend what was just said.

"Wait, you mean…" Rose remembered the gold light of the time vortex as it had swirled inside her and the beautiful singing in a language she had never heard before. Than her memories ended until she woke up on the ship with the doctor about to regenerate.

"Right now the doctor is battling an empire of Daleks on satellite five, and it's like I can see it yah know, in the back of my head. But it's like its paused and there other things I have to help with. I can see everything…all that is…all that was…"

Rose nodded, "…And all that ever could be."

**A.N.**

**Okay, thank you to everyone who has decided to give this story a chance, its going to be quite a few chapters if everything goes as planned and hopefully you guys will stick with me. I will update at least once a week and reviews will only make them come faster...if anyone even cares:)**


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay," said Rose as she sat facing the younger version of herself in the infinite space of white. "You're me from when I look inside the heart of the Tardis, yeah?"

Younger Rose nodded, smiling slightly. "And you're on your way to go help the Doctor defeat the daleks?"

At this the nineteen year olds expression darkened.

"Basically, but I've gotten kinda side tracked…" The younger girl trailed off as she looked past her older counterpart.

"What do you mean? The Doctor told me that I looked inside the vortex and then came and destroyed all of the daleks." Rose questioned slowly. She was honestly confused. The memories of her time as the Bad Wolf were almost nonexistent, and learning that she apparently had taken the time to visit her future self was a bit unnerving.

"When I looked inside the heart of the Tardis, inside time itself, I could literally see everything that would ever and could ever happen to everyone in the whole of creation. I was suddenly so much bigger than anything ever encountered in this universe and the power almost killed me." The younger girl's voice was heavy with the weight of the experience and her eyes seemed to glow a golden hue.

"Bad Wolf." Rose whispered.

Her counterpart nodded. "I needed to become something that was still human at heart but could tolerate that much power, so the Bad Wolf was created. However as I saw the future that would lead to where you are now I knew I would have to intervene, as the original purpose of the Bad Wolf is to get Rose Tyler back to her Doctor. And let me tell yah, the job is not an easy one."

Rose's heart sped up. After two years of living in a parallel world with no prospects of getting back to her original universe, this was too much to hope for.

"You're saying that you can help me get back to the Doctor?" She asked slowly.

"Possibly," The younger girl began. "It all depends on what's about to happen."

"And that would be what?" Rose questioned. "I don't even know how I got here and it's not like your being real specific on anything." She folded her arms across her chest in a defiant manner looking her younger self in the eyes.

The girl in question absently picked at a stray string on her pink jacket, understanding her older self's need for an explanation

"You're unconscious." The younger Rose finally stated. "An organization called UNIT kidnapped you while you were running in that park in Cardiff. They believe that your reappearance two years ago is connected the cyberman attacks and void activity being detected. They consider you a threat to the general public and because of your affiliation with Torchwood, a threat to UNIT.

"But why wait two years to get me if I'm such a danger to society?" Rose asked.

"Because they haven't had any proof, UNIT is run on a very strict operating policy and apprehending a seemingly innocent young woman with a billionaire father would require some serious paperwork. But recently a photo was uncovered from the last birthday party Jackie Tyler had before she disappeared, and guess who happens to be in the background? A pretty young servant who is an exact match on UNIT's facial recognition program for Rose Tyler. And do you remember what happened at that party?

"The cyberman attacked." Rose whispered.

Saying she was shocked was an understatement. She had been under the impression her integration into this world had gone smoothly. Sure there had been gossip and conspiracists with their own theories to her disappearance. But any real problems had been cleared when the DNA match came back positive that Jackie and Pete Tyler were indeed her parents. And now apparently there was an alien organization that had been plotting against her since she arrived in this world.

"Right, and now they had enough evidence so you were drugged and taken to the main UNIT building were you are being kept for observation and testing as we speak." The younger Rose said while glancing apologetically at her older self.

Anger coursed through Rose's body. How dare they kidnap and run tests on her, She was Rose Tyler, the highest ranking Torchwood field agent and alien negotiator. She had seen the end of the earth, fought a werewolf, and met the devil. She promised herself that she would show UNIT a real threat as soon as she woke up.

"However," The younger girl began. "That is the least of your problems."

Rose's surprise was evident on her face but she nodded for the younger girl to continue.

"Three years ago UNIT hired a woman named Jane Brown. She is actually an alien from the planet Eros and was abandoned by her parents on earth when she ten. Her goal in life is to find out why she was left here and get back to her home planet. About a year ago she found a book left by a time agent in a café with information on how to build a relay machine that will allow the user to relive past events in their own time line. She has been working on the machine since she found the book and it will be completed today."

The nineteen year old brushed a stray piece of her long blonde hair behind her ear as she paused to make sure her older self was following what she was saying.

Rose contemplated what she had been told "If it allows you to relive past events then won't she cause a paradox when she goes back and stops her parents from abandoning her?" Rose stopped as realization dawned on her face. "Is that why you need me? To stop her from creating a paradox?"

Her younger self shook her head. "The machine doesn't actually travel in time. It just deposits you in the pre-established timeline. You can stop things from happening and change the outcomes of situation but it doesn't actually do anything to the real world. You're basically just interacting with shadows of the past. Jane's going to use the device to see if she can get some answers about why her parents abandoned her where they went."

The older woman seemed to be absorbing the information well when suddenly her face contorted into a grimace as she felt as if someone had punched all the air out of her body. Her cry of pain echoed in the infinite space as her body dropped onto the white flooring.

"W-What's happening?" she choked out as her fingers clawed at the tile around her desperately trying to relieve the piercing pain working its way through her entire body. "P-Please."

The younger girl kneeled down in front of Rose taking her face between her hands. "Rose, I know it hurts and I'm sorry but I need you to be strong 'cause things are about to become much worse. Jane never gets to try out the machine; you're going to be its first test subject. You're not going to remember much of this conversation when you wake up but don't worry ill talk to you again soon."

Tears clouded her vision of the girl in front of her and Rose Tyler lost herself to the welcoming darkness.

…

The brown haired woman walked up to a large sealed metal door at the end of the medical hallway. Her plastic I.D. cart made a pleasant click as she swiped it through the access bar and the Robotic female voice that followed granted her entry.

"Access granted, welcome Doctor Brown."

The door unsealed itself with a dramatic hiss and Jane Brown stepped into the quiet medical room whose only occupant was unconscious on an operating table.

Jane started the routine check of making sure all of the many wires and tubes sticking out of Rose Tyler were in proper working order and the patient was properly sedated. She then looked over the girls vitals and took a quick blood sample.

Jane honestly hated this part of her job. She saw a part of herself in Rose and hated to think of UNITs plans of mental torture and analysis that were an inevitable part of the woman's future. UNIT was under the impression Miss Tyler had been gallivanting with aliens and cyberman up until her reappearance into society. Jane doubted this but thought it best to keep her mouth shut. She was so close to finishing her project and could not let her pity for the young woman get in the way.

"_Doctor Brown_?" The static voice from the radio hooked to her side made the woman stop her work and place the blood sample aside before grabing the walkie-talkie.

She spoke calmly into the device. "Yes, this is Doctor Brown from Medical."

"_Is the patient prepared for surgery?"_

Jane glanced at Rose before answering. "Yes, the patient is ready."

"_Good, we shall have the operating team together in half an hour, standby"_

_Perfect. _Jane thought to herself.

The woman quickly pulled a rolling metal table towards her before taking what looked like a small laser pointer from her pocket and setting it on the small table.

Jane then reached into her lab coat, pulled out the pink notebook and started flipping through the pages at a rate that made the hair around her face dance. Stopping on a specific page the woman grabbed the mysterious contraption and was about to press the small button at the top when the sealed doors hissed open.

"Hey Jane, how's our guest doing?"

Jane quickly slipped the laser pointer into an empty blood sample carrier lying next to the bed before turning around to face the visitor.

"Hello Marcus, I'm very busy at the moment so if could allow me to get back to—"

"Ralph wants to talk to you."

Jane glanced quickly at the carrier; Ralph was the head of Medical and known for his quick temper. If she refused to go she could very well lose her job. Making the decision that her project was safe for the time being, Jane nodded and headed out the door.

Marcusseeing the full blood sample on the table beside the patient took the vial and slipped it into the carrier on the tool table. Unknown to him the vial was set directly on top of the Laser pointer look alike, pressing down on the small button.

The yellow light that came through the carrier startled the young intern as he looked up from where he had been organizing lab equipment. The light radiated forward until it landed on the silent body of Rose Tyler. Marcus was mesmerized by the light and watched as it seemed to engulf the blonde woman entirely. It was when she started the disintegrate that broke him out of his hypnotic state. He ran to the red alarm on the wall closest to the door and pressed down. Immediately a shrill bell sounded throughout the building and gas masks fell from the ceilings. A familiar Robotic Woman's voiced called out instruction for what to do in case of alien infiltration.

This had no effect on the light and Rose Tyler disappeared without a trace.

…..

The pounding headache was what brought Rose into the limbo between being fully awake and deeply asleep. As she became more aware of her surroundings the ache quickly became more intense and Rose flipped onto her stomach and dug her head under her pillows. The blonde couldn't recall the last time she had this bad of a hangover and hoped she had at least stayed within the confines of her parent's house while under the influence. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with the press or Pete's Public Relation department asking what she was thinking.

_Wait a tick._

She hadn't been drinking. It was her baby brother's birthday today and she wanted to be a part of that, not in a pain induced stupor. She recalled having trouble sleeping and going for a run, then…

Rose sat up straight in her bed and gasped. She remembered a mysterious woman telling her about being kidnapped from the Forrest she was running in and then being drugged by an organization she couldn't remember the name of. Rose knew that there was more to the conversation but the pounding in her head became more painful when she tried to remember. It was then that Rose noticed her new surroundings and let out a small scream which she quickly muffled with her pillow.

Her gaze slid along the hot pink walls cluttered with pictures and posters cut out of magazines before drifting down to the shaggy brown carpet littered with clothing and trinkets tossed carelessly onto the floor. Finally her eyes followed the curve of her ceilings coral strutting that climbed up the sides. The distant hum she heard in the background only added to the overall picture.

Rose Tyler was back in the Tardis.

_Okay Rose deep breaths, you can figure this out._

Two years ago if Rose had magically appeared on board the Tardis she would have run down the corridors straight to the Doctor without a second thought. Now with her background with Torchwood she had a much different approach.

Rose quietly slid her legs over the side of her bed and maneuvered herself through the organized mess on the floor. Someone had drugged her, if she had any doubts about this; they were confirmed as soon as she saw where she was. Whoever had taken her was obviously trying to use her memories against her through some sort of virtual reality. It wasn't unheard of, captured agents had told stories about aliens creating environments where the victim was most comfortable then impersonating someone the victim would relay information too easily. It was an extremely effective technique, but Rose was not going to fall for it. She had the advantage of knowing that this was all a lie, and would use it to escape.

With that in mind, Rose quietly opened the door leading out into the hallway.

* * *

**Hi!**

**Okay so I now this hasnt been the most exciting thing up to this point but we are now getting to the good stuff;) Please review as I have the next chapter almost done but would like some more feed back before I post. And the next chapter is deffinitly a lot more exciting!**

**Thanks for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

The rush of familiarity that hit Rose Tyler as she stepped out of her bedroom door was staggering. The light gold hallway was exactly as she remembered it down to the coral lining that ran along the wall. The humming she had herd faintly in her room was intensified and droned pleasantly in her ears. With only a moment's hesitation she inhaled through her nose luxuriating in the unique smell of spices mixed with time.

_This is insane; I can't believe they can copy my memories like this._ Thought Rose as she wandered down the dark hallway. The Tardis was exactly as she remembered it and the realization scared her. The heaviness of homesickness was quickly settling itself over her heart as she walked the familiar corridor and reminded her that this was all an illusion and she would never see the real Tardis again.

Pushing the depressing thought away Rose considered how she could escape her memories. Most likely the people holding her were planning on using the Doctors image to make her give them whatever they wanted. While Rose prided herself on being a strong woman, she did have limits. So avoiding all typical Doctor areas was the first on her to do list.

The dimmed lighting in the hallway told her that the Tardis was in her night shift and the Doctor was most likely in the console room or library if her captors were going to mimic his habits. With this in mind Rose headed towards the kitchen. A cup of tea would help to clear her head so she could figure a way out of this mess. And besides, they were probably monitoring her progress and she didn't want to give them any reason to think she knew what was going on.

Rose reached the kitchen easily and smiled as she took in the familiar space. The dark wooden table was positioned in the center of the room with four chairs on each side of it. Rose grinned remembering the many hours she had spent with the Doctor long into the night talking about anything and everything over tea and biscuits.

Rose opened the cupboard over the kitchen sink and searched the contents with a small sigh. Her favorite mug was missing. The Doctor had given her the cup as a birthday gift a few months before they had been separated and adored it. The mug was brilliant silver with embellishment along the edges that would change colors depending on her mood. It wasn't in the cupboard with the rest of the mugs, causing Rose to grin at her kidnappers slip up. Obviously not everything would be right in this dream world, and Rose needed to focus on the differences if she wanted to make it out of here.

Grabbing a bright green cup instead, Rose quickly set the kettle to boil and leaned against the counter. Being in the Tardis again, even if it wasn't real, was amazing and Rose wanted to treasure the feeling. She had missed this place so much while living in Petes world, and it was hard to not want to stay here forever-real or not real.

Rose felt the tears start to prick her eyes and she glanced around the kitchen knowing that she would never set foot in the real thing again. She was interrupted however when steps in the hallway alerted her of an incoming presence and before she could react a loud American accent filled the previous silence.

"Rosie, what are you doing up?"

Rose could only stare in complete shock. She was not prepared for this; she was expecting the Doctor to come bounding in talking a mile a minute, his brown hair wild. Instead she got Jack Harkness clothed in only his plaid boxers.

Seeing the man she considered closer than family and hadn't seen in three years struck something inside of Rose. She knew from what she had been told in training that the machine would change the looks of her captures into people she loved, well Rose was going to show however was using the face of Jack how much she liked the idea.

Shoving all previous plans of feigning cluelessness aside Rose's Torchwood training took over and she swept her legs under the Jack impersonator making him fall flat on his back.

"Rose! Wha-?" He didn't get a chance to finish as Rose grabbed his hands and twisted causing the ex time agent to flip onto his stomach. Rose sat daintily on top of his back before yanking his arms further behind him.

"Listen, Rose if you wanted me to yourself all you had to do was ask. No need for attacking me in the kitchen. Though you need to tell me where you learned those moves 'cause I don't think I've ever seen you do that before." The man's cheeky teasing was exactly as she remembered, enough so to put Rose over the edge.

She pushed into the pressure point in his shoulder blade causing Jack to cry out in pain.

Rose leaned in close to the imposter's ear. "I don't know who you are or why you want me, but using my friends to get information is a very bad idea."

Jack sensing that Rose was not in her right mind quickly flipped her off himself, taking care to make sure he didn't hurt her.

"Rose, its me, Jack, Remember. Now let me get the Doctor and we can sort this all out." His voice was slow and soothing, with his hands raised peacefully in front of his body.

Rose ignoring this threw a punch to his side that left Jack staggering backwards. When she swung for a second attack, he was prepared and caught her arm mid swing, using her momentum to turn her body so her back was against his chest with both her arms pinned to her abdomen.

"Rose, sweetie. You have to calm down. I told the Doctor he shouldn't have let you eat those purple fish on Katriok 5. But no, you had to have a go. I mean we both know how infatuated you two are with each other but that doesn't mean you can-"Rose swung her elbow backward connecting with his stomach. The cry of pain that echoed in the small kitchen made Rose wince.

_He's not the real Jack. He's a fake. There using his image to get to you._

Chanting this mantra in her head, Rose turned towards the kitchen table and grabbed the first item she saw and swung it around to point at the imposter. The large fork glinted in her hands and the blonde rolled her eyes. Not the best weapon considering she was two steps from the knife drawer, but it would have to do. Quickly Rose turned to face her winded opponent before straddling his stomach. Jack made a move to flip but she jabbed the fork right into the skin of his neck causing the man to freeze.

"Okay Rosie, you win. Now let me go."

"Don't. Call. Me. That." Rose ground out. Jack was the only one who ever used the nickname and knowing that the organization was copying his habits angered her. The man's eyes widened at her outburst and he wisely shut his mouth.

"Now, we are going to get some things straight. You and I both know that you're not Jack Harkness, so you can cut the act." The only response from this was a blank stare.

"I know what going on so just tell me what you want!" Rose was growing more and more panicked as the man bellow seemed to only get more and more concerned. How was she supposed to find her way out here? She couldn't fight Jack forever, she was to emotionally connected to the situation, which she supposed was exactly the point.

The stress of the situation caused her to push the fork against Jacks neck harder then she meant. The added pressure caused the skin to break slightly and draw blood. The dark red liquid seeped slowly down Jack's neck leaving a red stain in its wake. The Jack imposter's brown eyes were large as they looked up into hers. The sight caused Rose to falter in her actions. Jack or no Jack, this was the body of one of her best friends who she loved dearly and seeing him hurt was painful for her. Rose opened her mouth to say something akin to an apology when she felt strong arms lifting her up off the body beneath her. The hands that gripped her around the waist were hard and calloused, but extremely gentle as they set her down on her feet.

"Now what's going on in here?" The deep northern accent seemed to rubble throughout her body and Rose felt paralyzed with her back towards the owner.

She heard the rustling of clothing and assumed that they were helping Jacks imposter up off the ground.

"Doc, I don't think you sh-" this had no effect on the man as Jack was silenced and Rose felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.

"Rose, what's wrong?" his voiced was laced with concern, most likely coming from the fact that she hadn't moved an inch since he set her down.

Rose slowly turned her body until she was facing the two men. Her face was unreadable as she took in the tall broad shoulders covered in a green jumper and leather jacket. His face was stoic and blank to the outside observer, but Rose could see the faint traces of concern etched in the lines around his eyes and the tip of his lips. His brown crop of hair was damp indicating that he had just gotten out of the shower before investigating the noise Jack and she were undoubtedly making.

After a moment of simple starting at the man Rose started to laugh.

…

The brown haired woman had been sitting with her team for the past three days. The odd group was an assortment of Doctors, Computer Techs, and Alien identifiers. Jane Brown had told UNIT the mysterious devise that caused Rose Tyler's apparent disintegration was a piece of alien tech she had found in the hallway and set in the Medical room to register it later. Unregistered Alien technology was misplaced everyday and it wasn't the slightest bit unusual. Her action in the story followed protocol so she was not in the blame for the incident but was expected to help with finding out what had happened to the poor girl.

Jane was throwing herself into the job at a rate none of her coworkers had ever seen from her. The reason for this was not limited to the fact that she was curious if her devise had indeed done its purpose. But because Jane had become quickly attached the young woman without ever really knowing her. She felt a small sense of motherly protection for the girl and wanted her to be safe, as irrational as it was. It also angered her that the head of UNIT didn't seem to care that Miss Tyler was probably lost to this world. In fact they seemed to hope for it. The whole point of the operation was to get Rose Tyler out of the way after finding out if she was a threat. The incident saved time and money that would have been used in her interrogation, holding cell, and memory alteration.

The machine in front of Jane beeped once before seemingly random numbers and letters started to appear across the machines screen.

"What exactly happened?"

The voice came from the senior agent in charge of monitoring their progress. He had been asking the same question since they all arrived in the small computer room 72 hours ago.

With an annoyed look over her shoulder Jane Brown glanced quickly over the data rapidly appearing on the computer before answering, "She's stuck."

Her voice was calm and professional, the exact opposite of what she was really feeling.

Rose Tyler. The young blonde woman she saw so much of herself in was gone. Her body had been disintegrated by the neuron beam to allow her essence to travel amongst shadows of her memories. Even if she could bring the girls "soul" back, it would have nowhere to go.

Jane felt her heart sinking as she look over the data once more. She had just damned Rose Tyler to a continuous repeat of her own time line. Forever forced to live in a place where she knows exactly what was going to happen, and being able to do nothing to stop it. Until eventual she would herself entirely to her past timeline, becoming nothing but misplaced atoms.

"Stuck? I need specifics Brown."

"Dead." Jane choked out before harnessing in her emotions. "She's dead, killed on impact by the beam."

The man nodded fiddling with the end of his tie. "I'll alert the boss."

…..

The meeting was a congregation of twelve people all wearing business suits in various shades of the color black. At the head of the conference table was a man looking to be in his late fifties, with salt and pepper hair that was receding slightly. When he stood to address the whole table the room was immediately silent, his presence demanding a reverent respect.

"We are here to discuss the unfortunate death of Rose Tyler, ideas?" His voice was soft and calm as he questioned his audience.

A young Asian woman rose tentatively from her seat glancing at the notes gripped tightly in her hands. "When we first apprehended Rose Tyler we sent an email to her parents from Miss Tyler's personal account. The correspondence indicated that Tyler had left for a private vacation Norway."

"Why Norway?" The head of the table asked curiously.

"Our informant in the Tyler mansion says that the Tyler's often mention Norway in conversation, and it wouldn't be unusual for her to revisit the location."

"Understood, now what are we going to do about her death?"

The young woman cleared her throat before continuing. "Our informant says Miss Tyler suffered from severe depression and lack of self preservation when she first arrived at the household. She has apparently been approving but now lives in a separate house from her parents. It would be highly plausible for her to have sunk deeper into the depression while living alone. We think suicide would be the best route for the case."

The man nodded, giving his approval for her continuation.

"We have secured a corpse from our cadaver sight that is a match with Rose Tyler's weight and body type. We have a confirmed DNA sample which can be administered into the prototype for project C3. We would apply a simple poison to the corpse, something the Tyler could have easily gotten from Torchwood, and stage a suicide note." The woman finished and nervously folded her notes into crumpled squares, refusing to make eye contact with the head of the table.

The man in question seemed used to this and took his time considering the pros and cons of the plan propositioned. After a moment he nodded his acceptance. "Start immediately. This project is the number one priority, is that understood?" There was a general nod throughout the small crowd.

"Excellent. You may all leave."

….

Rose's laughter echoed in the small kitchen, and caused both Jack and the Doctor to look at one another in concern. The laughter was not happy, more of a humorless expression of sound.

"I told you Doctor, you shouldn't have let her try that fish." Jack muttered to the man on his left.

"Jack, we don't even know what's wrong. She could simple be sleep deprived." The Doctor shot Jack his signature glare.

"Right, do most sleep deprived people attack their friends in the middle of the night?" He gestured dramatically to the cut on his neck.

With a briefly concerned glance at Jack's cut the Doctor slowly approached the young woman who was at this point doubled over on the tile.

"Rose, I need you to tell me what wrong." He made to grab the girls hand but she turned to face them before he could.

"Is that the best you can do?" the question was gasped out between her hysteric laughter and caught the Doctor off guard.

"Er, what do you mean?"

Rose's laughter quieted but was replaced by a huge grin.

She turned her head upward and gestured toward the vicinity of the ceiling. "He's not even the right one!"

"Rose who are you talking to?"

Rose just giggled and looked up at him with interest.

The Doctor, deeply concerned for the sanity of his companion reached forward and gripped both of her shoulders, forcing the girl to look at him.

Rose's grin fell slightly as she found her motivation slowly slipping away as soon as he touched her. The knit jumper paired with the dark leather jacket was achingly familiar, as was the slightly cool calloused hands that absently stroked circles on her shoulders. His brow was furrowed slightly in concern and his icy blue eyes searching as he slightly begged her to tell him what was wrong so he could fix it.

She had assumed that the Doctor who would interrogate her would be the one that had disappeared on that beach in Norway. Whoever was behind this was obviously quite smart as Rose suddenly realized how much she missed this version of the man standing in front of her.

Seeing the apparent distress in her eyes, the Doctor pulled her forward and engulfed the blonde in his strong arms. Rose felt peace finally encompass her body as she smiled slightly into the worn leather and took in his distinct scent.

Suddenly she isn't Rose Tyler, the hard woman who became the defender of the earth. She is Rose Tyler, dead end shop girl getting chased by shop window dummies when a man grabs her hand and says "run". She's young and flirty and naïve and wants to bring boys onto the Tardis and show them the stars the same way he did for her. She's daring and excited, the whole universe brimming with worlds to explore. But most of all she's yearning to be good enough for her impressive alien companion who she hopelessly fancies.

_This isn't real_

The whispering voice comes from the back of her head and Rose can't help the tears that leak out of her eyes. Can the universe ever just give her a break?

…

Jackie Tyler was having a terrible week.

Rose had left the house sometime during the night to go running four days previously and had never come back. Apparently she had been given some sort of divine revelation that prompted her rather abrupt vacation to Norway which she was still suspicious about. Tony idolized Rose and the Rose was very close to her brother. So I didn't make much sense for Rose to up and leave the night before his birthday. Even at two, Tony had thrown a tantrum at his sister's lack of appearance at the party and had been in a continuous foul mood since then.

Another questionable detail was Norway. Why would Rose go there? She knew Rose was miserable here, but she was starting to improve drastically to which Jackie was very proud. She hoped Norway wouldn't set her daughters progress back.

The loud crash followed by the sharp cry of her young son ended her musings as she went to see what the trouble was.

Anthony Tyler was lying in a crumpled heap at the base of his highchair. The macaroni and cheese he had been eating was sticking all over the boy and kitchen floor.

Jackie sighed as she went to comfort her screaming son. Turns out Tony had inherited his father's intuitive brain and his sister's curiosity. This resulted in his frequent escaped from his crib and highchair.

It was while holding the screaming child that the doorbell rang.

Jackie sighed as she listened to the butler answer the door. It was still strange after more than two years of living here, having a whole house of maids and butlers. She wiped the last of the macaroni from Tony's withering face before swinging the crying child onto her hip.

"Mrs. Tyler there is a police officer in the lounge, he wished to speak with you."

Jackie looked curiously at the butler, before heading off in the direction of the lounge.

"I'm so sorry but my husband isn't here at the moment, I'm guessing this has something to do with Torchwood?" She smiled kindly at the officer while readjusting a now content Tony to her other hip.

"No ma'am, I'm actually here to talk about your daughter, you might want to take a seat."

* * *

**Okay this was quite long I know...**

**Thanks to everyone that favorited this story!**

**Now, I have almost all of chapter 5 done and if you guys will give me more five reviews I will post it on Wednesday. But hey, that might be like the least tempting thing ever, and you could care less about the story. Whatever works.**


	5. Chapter 5

It was sunny.

The light rays of sunlight peaked out of the clouds reflecting blindingly off the cars windshields in the neighboring parking lot. Pinks and oranges stained the sky in the early lighting as a result of the brilliant sunrise. However no one was particularly observant of the rare beautiful day as four people made their way across the empty cemetery, finally stopping at the designated plot.

Jackie Tyler stood at the very front of the small group with tears streaking slightly down her face. She quietly observed the pallbearers lower the black casket onto the plot and open the top before leaving the family to pay their last respects.

Mickey was first to the casket, his eyes red and rimmed with tears. His eyes studied the face of the woman and took his time whispering private words to her deaf ear. After a moment he gently reached into the box and caressed the occupants hand before raising it slightly and placing a tender kiss on the woman's pale hand before rejoining the small gathering.

Pete walked slowly clutching his young son to his body, his face dry but eyes showing the depth of his mourning for the daughter he was just starting to know and already loved deeply. He dug into the pocket of his black jacket before drawing out a gold locket. The chain glittered beautifully in the light before Pete hooked it around the neck of the deceased. His grandmother had given it to him, meant to be passed down to his oldest daughter, as it had been for the past four generations. He had planned on giving it to Rose on her birthday, but had never gotten the chance.

Tony stared intently at his sisters still form. "Ro?"

The hand not gripping his father's shoulder came out to touch the woman's face. Pete gently tugged his son's hand back to his body and glanced down into his inquisitive brown eyes.

"She's sleeping Tony." His voice broke. Both parents had yet to find a way to explain why Tony would never see his sister again.

Looking doubtful, Tony once more reached out for his sister but Pete tucked his little head under his chin and walked back to his wife.

The group silently looked out into the large cemetery. Pete had bought a large plot in a secluded corner of the burial ground and Jackie knew her daughter would love the large trees that overlooked her resting place and the wild flowers that highlighted her grave stone.

"Could you give me a moment?" her murmured question was soft and Pete and Mickey only barely caught her words.

"Of course darling, we'll be right over here."

Waiting until the footsteps of the two men quieted, Jackie took a deep breath and made her way towards the casket, hesitating just steps before it. Her wet checks cooled slightly as a morning breeze whispered past and made the black dress dance around her ankles. With a deep intake of breath she leaned over the lifted box and gazed at the woman inside.

_She'd grown up beautifully._ Thought Jackie sadly as her eyes took in the shoulder length golden hair curled slightly around the pale girls face. She was covered in a pure white dress with lace embellishment along the edges. Clutched in her limp hands was a bundle of yellow lilies (Jackie had forbidden Roses as the woman herself would have groaned).

Seeing Rose so peaceful was enough to spur Jackie's sobs. It had been two days since the officer had come to her house bringing the news of her daughter's suicide.

The officer explained how Pete had hired a team of painters to come in and finish up the kitchen renovations as a surprise for Rose when she came home from her trip to Norway. They had walked into the kitchen expecting to see the worn wall, but instead found the body of Rose Tyler. The autopsy said she had taken the poison used in Torchwood darts from research and development and added it to water. She was dead within four hours.

"Oddly fitting huh." Jackie began as she spoke to her dead daughter. "It was always just me and you against the world back at the estates." She stroked her daughter's bangs as she had when Rose was younger. "I know that it had been hard on you…but I- "She broke off as a sob racked her body. "It's my fault for being so caught up in my own world, focusing on the pregnancy and getting your father back and I couldn't see that you were obviously struggling so much more than you let anyone know. I thought you were doing better." She took a deep breath. "I love you so much. But I guess you didn't know that." The tears were flowing freely now and dripped into the casket. "You deserved the universe Rose, and I'm so sorry I couldn't help you find it."

After placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead, Jackie Tyler walked back to her broken family, leaving a missing piece behind.

…..

The Doctor stared blankly at the underside of the console of the Tardis. He held his sonic screwdriver loosely in his left hand as his mind wandered over the past few weeks, namely his experience with one Martha Jones.

He liked Martha, very much in fact. But she seemed to be under the impression that they were a developing _thing._

The Doctor didn't have a problem with things, he rather liked most things. But this _thing_ happened to be a relationship of the romantic variety. And as much as he liked Martha Jones he did not like her enough to have a _thing._Actually, there was only one person that he would ever consider having a _thing _with and she just happened to be stuck in a parallel world.

With a huff of frustration, the Doctor sunk deeper into the pit of wiring and piping that made up the Tardis.

He missed Rose.

He missed her laugh and they way it would echo off the walls of the Tardis making it seem much more like a homelike. He missed her smile and how it could melt any foul mood or depressing thoughts that had iced over his hearts. The way she always burned the toast no matter what she tried. How they would cuddle in the library on their rest days and read for hours and hours. The way she held his hand and gave hugs better than anyone in the entire universe.

The Doctor smiled slightly as the memories of his pink and yellow companion flooded his mind, all in perfect clarity. He could go on and on about all the things he missed about her. He wanted nothing more than to find her and bring her back home. Back to their home.

_But she's safe, she's with her family._

The small voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously northern made a strong point. The only thing keeping him sane was that Rose was with her family, happy and safe.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor startled, jumped slightly and proceeded to bang his head on the grating overtop.

"Yes Martha?" His voice floated from underneath the floor and Martha peeked over the opened piece of grating before flashing a smile. The young woman caught the Time lord's grimace and her smile turned to concern.

"You okay?"

"Yes Martha. Did you need something?" His voice was kind and Martha felt the butterflies awaken in her stomach as they always did when she was around him.

"The hot water in my bathrooms not working again."

"Well that's a problem." He put a hand on each side of the opening on the floor before pulling himself up. "Come on, let's see whats wrong."

The pair walked out of the console room. Seconds after, the heart of the Tardis began to spark. Golden wisps melted out from the power source and encircled the room in a divine glowing light before sinking into the console flooring. The heart silenced and all was still.


	6. Chapter 6

**Previously **

_Seeing the apparent distress in her eyes, the Doctor pulled her forward and engulfed the blonde in his strong arms. Rose felt peace finally encompass her body as she smiled slightly into the worn leather and took in his distinct scent. _

_Suddenly she isn't Rose Tyler, the hard woman who became the defender of the earth. She is Rose Tyler, dead end shop girl getting chased by shop window dummies when a man grabs her hand and says "run". She's young and flirty and naïve and wants to bring boys onto the Tardis and show them the stars the same way he did for her. She's daring and excited, the whole universe brimming with worlds to explore. But most of all she's yearning to be good enough for her impressive alien companion who she hopelessly fancies. _

_This isn't real_

_The whispering voice comes from the back of her head and Rose can't help the tears that leak out of her eyes. Can the universe ever just give her a break?_

Reluctantly Rose pulled her face away from the leather it had burrowed into and removed the hands from around her waist.

"Please stop this." She whispered.

"Stop what? Rose, you need to tell me what's wrong." His urgent plea drifted into her ears and Rose had to fight the shiver that traveled down her spine. Looking into his stormy blue eyes, Rose felt her resolve dissolving. She didn't have very long to think on the matter however, when a sharp pain pierced her temples.

The shouts of both the captain and Doctor faded into the background as Rose laid herself on the ground and closed her eyes in an attempt to relive the agony. A golden presence was filling her mind and the pain dulled.

_What are you beating up Jack for!_

The feminine cockney was unexpected yet familiar as it pushed its thoughts into Rose's head.

"He's not Jack! This is some kind of virtual memory torture and I need to get out of here!" Rose shouted at the voice in her head.

She heard an exasperated sigh before a bright flash of gold flooded her vision and forgotten memories came zooming into focus at a lightning pace.

…_**kidnapped you while you were running in that park in Cardiff. They believe that your reappearance two years ago is connected the cyberman attacks and void activity being detected…**_

_**..consider you a threat to the general public and because of your affiliation with Torchwood…**_

…_**machine that will allow the user to relive past events in their own time line...**_

…_**it doesn't actually do anything to the real world. You're basically just interacting with shadows of the past…**_

With a gasp Rose opened her eyes and gently touched her forehead. The pain was receding and the blonde was left only with the sting of embarrassment. Blinking once she sat up on the kitchen floor and looked up at the two men currently staring at her.

Mortification washed over her as she took in Jack's haggard appearance and the Doctors concerned eyes. They were real. And she had wasted all this time sneaking around the ship under the impressions she was in some sort of virtual torture system.

However before anyone could speak a huge crash resonated throughout the Tardis sending the occupants of the kitchen spiraling into the wall. The whole ship was shaking violently and Rose held on tightly to the side of a cabinet, as Jack and the Doctor steadied themselves against the table.

"What's happening?" Rose yelled over the distress noises the Tardis was making.

"There something wrong with the Tardis! She's making an emergency landing on the closest rock she can find. Just hold on!" The Doctor yelled back.

Rose felt an odd sense of déjà vu at his words but kept her grip on the cabinet.

"We were in the middle of the vortex! We could be landing anywhere!"

It was Jacks familiar protest that enlightened Rose on the situation, and caused the icy feeling of dread to settle itself over her heart.

She cursed quietly under her breath before glancing up at her two companions. Her past self had said that changing things while she was here wouldn't cause a paradox. And if Rose was going to make it through this particular adventure she was going to have to do some editing.

…

Martha Jones was not one to complain, she really wasn't. But after the fifth day of hanging around the vortex, she decided to make an acceptation.

The day after the Doctor had fixed the hot water in her bathroom, Martha had woken up to find him completely enthralled in the Tardis computer.

"Something was here Martha, there's time traces everywhere." He responded when she asked what he was looking at.

"What do you mean something was here? I thought nothing could get in unless you invited them?" Martha questioned as she sat on the edge of the jump seat.

"Invited?" The Doctors voice sounded distracted, and Martha knew he had probably only herd the end of her question.

"I don't know! I was under the impression things couldn't just walk onto your ship whenever they liked!" She was irritated. The Doctor had the faraway look in his eyes that she so frequently saw and it meant he was a million miles away from the conversation.

The Doctor, as if sensing her anger, moved around the consol and dropped onto his stomach in the middle of the floor.

"Doctor?"

Taking out the sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket the alien began scanning the grating in circular patterns, muttering in a language Martha couldn't understand.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor glanced up. "What is it Martha?"

"What do you mean something was here?" She repeated, annunciating the words slowly.

"Something was in the Tardis last night, which should be impossible." He tucked the sonic back into his pocket and jumped up off the gratting. "Doesn't look like whatever it was did anything, just jumped in then jumped out."

"Jumped?" Martha questioned.

"Through time. We're in the middle of the vortex, that's the only way in."

…

Rose lay coughing on the concrete of the alleyway the Tardis had deposited them on, with Jack in a similar position. During the last few seconds in the time ship the air had gone toxic causing the two companions to make a mad dash out the doors when the ship had landed. The Doctor was currently still inside the ship, something about "Superior repertory system" and "Stabilizing the brake frequencies".

Jack glanced sideways at Rose from his sprawled position on the ground. "You okay?" He rasped out, his voice rough from the fumes.

She nodded, still trying to catch her breath.

The sound of the Tardis door opening caused the two to glance back. Smoke billowed thickly from the door and after a moment the Doctor emerged looking irritated. As soon as the Time Lord crossed the threshold into the alleyway, the door shut tightly behind him leaving only the last billows of smoke to drift lazily upwards.

"Won't be able to get inside for awhile." The Doctor stated, crossing over to his two travelers. "The circuits connecting the navigation to control have been burnt straight through. She'll need some time to repair herself and won't let us back in until she deems it safe enough." He sighed heavily. "knew we shouldn't have made those two trips to Katriok 5 without giving her time to rest, the ol' girl has worn herself out."

Jack pushed himself to his feet before offering Rose a hand, which she took gratefully.

"What no freak out? No screaming about me being an imposter?"

The light teasing was so perfectly Jack that Rose launched herself into his arms before she had time to think about what she was doing.

The conman laughed slightly before encircling his arms around the woman he considered his sister. "If this is an apology hug, I don't need it. I mean I got this awesome cut out of our little brawl."

Rose smiled into his neck, while tightening her arms around the man.

"Not an apology hug, just missed yah."

The sound of the Doctor clearing his throat brought the two friends apart, and Rose suppressed a grin at his slightly miffed expression.

His stern gaze fell onto the pair. "Now that you two have made up, I for one would like to know what happened in the kitchen."

"And I," whispered a throaty voice. "Would like to know what you are doing out past curfew."

* * *

HI!

Thank you to all the lovely people who have followed and reviewed on this story and I am so sorry about the delay, things have been crazy but I should be posting more regularly again. The story is finally starting to heat up and hopefully you guys will stick around long enough to see what I have in store.

**And by the way! I am trying to find a fic I read awhile ago but cant remember the name to. Basically the doctor and Rose get stuck on a planet that they came to watch the sunset at. An explosion of some sort causes the Doctor to lose his eye sight and Rose has to lead him and take care of him while he acts like a bit of a jerk to her. They stay in this abandoned shack/lab and Rose has to find a flower in the middle of the night that will help his eyes. When the doctor gains his eye sight back he find that Rose actually had a really bad stomach wound and hadn't told him about it and it almost killed her. **

**If anyone could please tell me the name and author of this story I would be super grateful! Heck, you can even get your name as a character in**** this story if it pleases you. PM me or put the answer as a review! **

Remember reviews just make updates come faster!

Thanks for reading.

Watchingfromtheforrest

….


	7. Chapter 7

A chill ran up Rose's neck at the sound of the rough voice. She tried not to dwell on what took place on this planet but that voice still haunted her nightmares.

_Doesn't matter. _ Rose told herself, pushing the fear back. _You need to be strong, you're not gonna let this be a repeat of last time. _

The owner of the gravelly tone swept out of the shadows that highlighted the back walls of the alley and strode slowly towards the group.

Jack stiffened slightly at the stranger's appearance. He was an extremely tall humanoid male of around seven feet. His was covered in a black cloak that covered his face and dragged along the ground as the man walked.

"No person is allowed outside during curfew." The stranger rasped while surveying the small group. "You are not citizens. What is your business in the city?"

"Ship crashed," stated the Doctor. "We had no intention of visiting your city, and if you give us a few hours to repair our ship we will be out of your hair."

At the Doctors words the dark coated man turned towards the smoking Tardis. "I take it this is your ship?"

Without waiting for a reply the man started circling the blue box. "Curious machine, appears a bit small for so many travelers."

"We make do." said the Doctor, his stance stiff as he watched the man take in his ship.

"Oh of that I have no doubt." laughed the stranger. "But do tell me, what's a Time Lord doing so far from home?"

The Doctors face betrayed his surprise at the recognition of his race but quickly hardened back into an impassive mask. Rose saw the Doctor preparing to question the man about his knowledge and took a deep breath. _This is it_

She quickly stepped in front of the Doctor.

"Oi, Mister! I think you mean Time Lady."

….

Martha collapsed in a heap unto the jump seat in the Tardis, her breaths coming out in shallow gasps.

"So I admit, maybe that wasn't the best place for a beach trip." The Doctors voice was annoyingly even as he took in his companion's stance on the seat.

The dark skinned woman shot daggers at the alien in front of her, not yet able to form words.

"I was off by just a century! Funny how something as little as that can change their whole perspective on visitors …"

"They ran us back to the Tardis with pitch forks and torches!" Martha shouted, her breath finally evening out.

"Yes well, they had just gone through a massive war where half their population was incinerated so you really can't blame them for being paranoid."

Martha rolled her eyes as she sat back up. All she wanted was a bit of sun, but what did she get? Chased of the planet by an angry mob as soon as she spotted the beach.

"Look Doctor-" Martha began before feeling the Tardis floor suddenly drop from underneath her. There was the split second feeling of weightlessness before she crashed back onto the grating.

"Martha, are you okay?" The Doctors shout came from the in front of her and the young woman glanced up to see him frantically running around the consol and glowing soft yellow.

Wait, glowing?

Martha rubbed her eyes and looked back up to the brown haired alien. The glowing appeared to be coming from the consol. Streams of golden dust seemed to flow in circles around the controls before circuiting back into the grating only to reappear. Bright flashes of the dust circled the time rotor and seemed to emit a humming sound.

"Doctor! What is that stuff?"Martha yelled over the humming and Tardis engine.

"It's Remnants of pure time. Every second time is passing and this is was gets left behind. Think of it as the remnants of every single event in the history of the universe. The time vortex is full of it! But it should never be this active."

The Tardis jerked violently, sending its occupants to the floor.

"It's affecting the Tardis. I would hang on to something Martha Jones."

Martha grabbed onto the nearest coral strut and wrapped her legs around the base praying that would be enough. The dust was shinning brighter and she was finding it hard to even squint at the consol. She turned her head into the base of the coral and prepared for a rough landing.

…

Rose stared defiantly at the dark clothed man, inside however, she was trembling.

"_Time lady?"_ Questioned the cloaked man.

"Yup!" she remarked. "Born and raised on Gallifrey. I'm initiated and everything."

"Initiated? What are you speaking of girl?"

Rose smiled thinking back to the nightly tea sessions with her pinstriped Doctor in the library. Between reading and chatting idly he would delve into his past on Gallifrey and share with Rose intimate details of the planet.

"Initiated, as in brought to look into the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality." Rose stated casually trying not to focus on the Doctor's shocked expression.

The mysterious man stepped closer to Rose. "I was not aware any of the Time Lords...or Lady's had survived. And there was only the rumor that a Lord was still amongst the stars."

Rose forced a laugh. "Well, rumors tend to get warped, but I can assure you I am most certainly not a Time Lord." She paused in her ramblings knowing that what she said next would make or break her attempts at saving lives.

"Still, only in my third regeneration, could possibly be a boy one of these rounds." Rose said, watching as the man's fists clenched and his posture became taller. The effect of her words was almost immediate.

"Guards!" He shouted, his voice echoing into the night air. "Take this one to the cultivation center."

The walls of the alleyway shuddered as two dark masses seemed to grow slowly from the shadows covering them. The figures looked like two shadows that had taken a three dimensional form.

"No!" yelled the Doctor. "She doesn't know what she's saying! I'm the Time Lord."

The tall man laughed before pulling back his dark hood. Underneath was the man's grey colored flesh marred by the vacant holes where eyes should be. The surrounding skin was pulled taunt by crudely arranged stitches that stretched the skin in erratic ways, while still holding closed the dark cuts that disfigured the man's features. His face had no lips, instead the skin cracked around the opening that was his mouth.

"I think she knows very well what she's saying. We will accept you companion as penance for breaking curfew, goodnight." The man turned before following the guards who were leading a calm Rose away.

Jack glanced at the Doctor before launching himself at Rose's captors while the Doctor made to grab the cloaked man. However before either could reach their opponents, they vanished, smilingly into the shadows surrounding the alley.

….

Martha opened her eyes to a quiet consol room and an even quieter Doctor.

"Where are we?" asked Martha as she climbed slowly to her feet. The golden dust had vanished leaving only a sprinkling of glitter to everything in the room.

"No idea," began the Doctor. "Remnants are powerful. You can travel a billion years into the past with only a small pinch. Having that much aboard was indescribably dangerous." He ran a hand absentmindedly through his hair. "It somehow connects to the time traces we found on board a few days ago."

"You mean whoever was on the Tardis caused the time remnants to go crazy?" Martha asked.

"I'm just saying that I don't think that it's a coincidence that they happened so close together." The Doctor said while scanning the empty Tardis monitor screen.

Martha glanced at the doors. "Since the Tardis isn't working and we have no idea what's out there…how about we go take a look."

The Doctor stared at her. "Martha, I don't think you realize how powerful those remnants are. We had an inestimable amount in this consol room. We could be in a whole different universe! We could be before the universe was even created!"

Martha ignored his rambling and started to the door.

"Martha! You could go out there and be in some sort of limbo where time doesn't even exist and your whole body rejects it. And you know whose going to have to come and save you!" The Doctor watched as Martha opened the door and stepped outside. Pouting slightly and muttering about humans and their inability to listen the Doctor followed.

"Well, looks like plain old London to me." smiled Martha surveying the familiar hustle of the busy city as the Doctor joined her outside the door.

"Wrong." whispered the Doctor.

"Wrong? Doctor this is clearly-" She let out a small gasp as she followed the Doctors shaking finger towards the grouping of zeppelins that crowded the sky.

"Parallel universe." said the Doctor his voice trembling slightly.

"Doctor what up? We're not going to tear a whole in time by being here, right?" Martha questioned noticing the Doctor seemed to be in a state of shock.

"I-I need to go" The Doctor said finally, his eyes blazing with determination.

"Go?" She asked. "Where in the world would you need to go?" Her question was ignored as the Doctor sprinted off in a seemingly random direction, narrowly avoiding traffic. The dark skinned woman sighed before taking off at a run to follow him.

The chase was brought up short when and older man tripped into the Doctor causing both to fall to the ground. Martha hurried over to help the gentlemen up while the Doctor gathered the man's briefcase and newspaper.

"Sorry, I'm just in a bit of a hurry." The Doctor said looking longingly in the direction he was headed before the collision and rocking on his heels.

"Not a problem, just be careful were your looking." The man said holding his hands out for his belongings. The Doctor started to hand them over before pausing.

"Doctor, hand the man his things and we can go back to running to heaven knows where." Martha said, smiling politely at the man.

The Doctor had other ideas as he dropped the briefcase into the man's arms before turning away with the newspaper. Martha smiled apologetically and followed the Doctor who was standing off the side of the shopping traffic.

"Doctor, you can't just take peoples things, parallel universe or not." Scolded Martha. "You never think about-" She stopped as she took in the sight in front of her.

The Doctor was clutching the newspaper in a white knuckled grip his face a cold mask. Martha stood on her toes and read the headline of the news paper over his shoulder.

**Vitex Heiress Commits Suicide **

"Doctor I don't understand." Martha whispered, examining the included picture of a smiling blonde woman.

"It's not true." The Doctor stated emotionlessly.

Martha had no idea what to say, but the Doctor was scaring her. She had never seen him act so cold and devoid of any emotion. She finally knew why his title of the Oncoming Storm was perfectly fitting.

It seemed however that the her words were not needed as the Doctor headed back in the same direction as before, only this time at a slower pace and with a aura so menacing no one dared step in his way.

* * *

**Hi!**

**So still no confirmation on that story that I talk about last chapter. If you know what im talking about please tell me! Anyway hope you enjoy this!**


	8. Chapter 8

Martha Jones was frightened.

Since day one of meeting the Doctor, she knew the man had flaws. He was arrogant proud, and harbored an unhealthy amount of self hatred. He was a liar and considered his own judgments as gospel for the rest of the universe. He had a terrible temper that could destroy worlds and species.

But Martha also knew that the Doctor was kind. He had a merciful will that shaped his distaste for violence and tyranny. He made it his duty to help the needy and oppressed like some sort of time traveling Robin Hood.

In her mind the Doctor's goodness always balanced out his flaws, but doubt was now starting to creep in.

She had never seen the Doctor so devoid of emotion before. The man was a constant source of energy and information, bounding from adventure to adventure with not as much as a breath in between, all smiles and jokes as they gallivanted off to save the universe. The being beside her radiated a coldness that made every cell in her body erg her to turn and run as far away from him as possible. His presence demanded respect, and she knew that if it wasn't given, mercy would not be received. She was frightened of him in a way that she had never experienced from any other creature, even though she knew on a logical level that he would never hurt her.

The two had been at a brisk walk for the past ten minutes and no words had been exchanged between them, though not for absence of questions to be asked. Martha had no idea what the repercussions could be for traveling into a parallel universe. She didn't know if the Tardis would even start again. And she was extremely curious as to why the newspaper article affected the Doctor in such an extreme way.

Since asking the Doctor was obviously out of the question given his stoic silence, Martha figured the best step would be to retrieve the newspaper that was still clutched tightly in the his fisted hand.

"Doctor?" She asked quietly.

The Doctor glanced at her with a mute expression and cold eyes, his pace not slowing. Martha reminded herself that his anger was not directed at her personally.

"May I see the paper?" She pointed at the sheets scrunched in his hand.

He turned his head back towards the winding street road they followed before stiffly handing her the crumpled paper.

Martha slowed her pace slightly; glad that the shopping crowds and traffic had thinned dramatically since the sun had begun its decent. This allowed her not to worry about losing sight of the Doctor while she read.

She scanned the front page article intently.

Apparently the heiress to the Vitex fortune—whatever that was- had killed herself by drinking some sort of lethal poison a week ago. She had been found dead in her house by some painters when she was supposed to be in Norway on vacation.

Martha studied the include picture of the heiress. She was a pretty girl with blonde hair. Nothing extraordinary, in fact she seemed pretty average to Martha, even had a common name. Rose Tyler.

Rose Tyler.

_Rose._

Martha gasped as the realization hit her. How could she have been so stupid?

She glanced over the paper to see the Doctor was quite a bit ahead of her. With a new understanding of the situation Martha jogged back to her place beside him.

But why was the Doctor so distraught over the suicide happening to a parallel Rose? Obviously it would be sad knowing that someone you loved would make such a choice regardless of them being an alternate version…but his reaction seemed a bit excessive.

Unless … Rose hadn't abandoned the Doctor, but she had gotten stuck… stuck in a parallel universe

Well that would explain some things.

…

"_Rose, you have to go! Leave me and get out of here!" Rose ignored his angry protests as she worked on the harness that constrained the Doctor to the wall. _

"_Rose!" _

_She glanced up into the ice blue eyes that displayed so much terror on her behalf. "I'm not leaving you." She said stubbornly, getting back to the harness. _

_A shrill scream overcame the blaring sound of alarm bells. _

_Rose cut the final wire on the harness before turning to the source of the noise. A distraught sob flew from her lips as she looked at the dead figure of the young girl on the floor. _

"_Rose," The Doctor whispered. She felt his hand slip into hers. "We need to leave. Is there anyone else?" _

"_No," She choked out. "There're all dead." Hot tears slipped unnoticed down her face. _

Rose flew upright her whole body shaking as she awoke.

_Just a dream. It's not going to happen again. It was just a dream. _

She was still shaking as she stood up to pace her small cell that the shadow creatures had left her in. Her resolve to change the events that happened here were now stronger than ever.

"No one is going to die this time." The blonde whispered to herself as she wiped the stray tears from her face.

Deciding that a distraction was what she needed, Rose lifted a hand to her hair in order to remove the clip that was holding it up. She had always found a strange comfort in the familiar act of plaiting her hair, and right now she could use familiar.

She ran her hands through the soft strands before shaking her head slightly to relieve the soreness from a tight bun. The golden tendrils fell over her shoulders and Rose ran them over her fingers absentmindedly.

Wait.

Rose's eyes widened as her hands flew up to grasp both sides of her hair, bringing the lengths up to her face. The hair was her same color, only longer. In fact she hadn't had it this long in nearly four years, not since she first started traveling with…"

Oh.

With a heavy sigh Rose gave the rest of her body a quick examination, noticing the subtle differences. She was in the body of her nineteen year old self. She hadn't looked in a mirror since she arrived on the Tardis and had been a bit preoccupied to notice the differences.

_This day is just getting better and better. _

…

After walking for almost an hour when the Martha and the Doctor arrived at a large metal gate that was supported by a stone wall that encompassed the rest of the large property. A buzzer and code pad were attached to the side of the stone outcropping and Martha gave the Doctor a questioning look.

"I doubt they are going to be taking visitors."

The Doctor ignored her point and reached into his pocket for the sonic screwdriver. After running it along the key pad twice, the gate unlocked.

Martha gazed at the dirt road that led up to the large estate.

"Um Doctor, don't you think they probably have security…"

Once again the Doctor ignored her and began the walk up to the mansion. Martha hurriedly followed.

A sharp buzzing noise pierced the air before three men in dark suits appeared.

"You are trespassing on the Tyler Estate. This is private property and there will be repercusions."

Two of the men advanced on the Doctor who looked unconcerned with the interruption, and let the men pull his hands behind his back. Martha took the Doctors lead and calmly allowed the third man to grab her hands before walking in the direction indicated.

The small group reached the house and Martha held in a gasp. The building was absolutely stunning, and held an elegance that seemed almost timeless. What she wouldn't give to be able to live here. A small stirring of jealousy nipped at her heart as she thought of Rose living in this beautiful house.

The suited guards led them to a small back door behind the house that entered into an elegant parlor.

"Wait here." The tallest guard ordered them. The three men left the room and Martha listened to the faint sound of classical music drifting from somewhere above.

Suddenly the door to the parlor was thrown open and an angry middle aged man with ginger hair stormed through.

"I don't care how much you are getting paid to get pictures of this family, but I guarantee you it won't even compare to what I am going to sue you for!" The man yelled.

"Pictures?" Martha asked. Slightly scared by the man's anger.

"Yes pictures! This family is in mourning and if the media could have some damn respect!"

"So it's true then." The Doctor whispered.

"True!" The man snapped, turning to face the Doctor.

"What in God's name do you-" A gasp escaped the man lips followed by an expression of pure shock.

"Doctor?" The man whispered.

"Pete." The Doctor said, his eyes rising from the floor to meet his.

Pete Tyler gave the Doctor a long look before rushing out of the room.

"What was that about?" Martha asked, curiously.

Before the Doctor could respond the door opened back up and a middle aged woman with dyed blonde hair walked into the room, a look of absolute sorrow on her face.

"Is it really you then?" Asked Jackie Tyler.

"Yes." The Doctor prepared himself for a slap that he felt he most definitely deserved when Jackie started to advance on him. He was shocked however when he felt a shaking body embrace him.

"She thought we would never see you again!"

"Jackie, you need to tell me what happened. I'm guessing this was some kind of setup right? Was there some kind of threat to Rose? She needed to disappear so you faked her death?" He patted the woman's hair in a comforting gesture.

"You're too late Doctor." Jackie sobbed into his coat. "If you could have come just a week earlier."

The Doctor stiffened and pulled Jackie up so that he could look at her face.

"I don't understand?" He asked quietly. "Where's Rose."

Jackie stood and took the Doctor's hand, while the tears still flowed down her face. "She's–" The distressed mother choked back a sob. "She's dead. She committed suicide a week ago."

The Doctors face paled. "No."

He stood and gently pushed Jackie aside so he could pace the room.

"No she isn't. Rose wouldn't do that. She's alive, she-" The hysterical edge in his voice broke Martha's heart. She watched as the Doctor slide down the wall with his head in his hands, deciding it was better to give him some space.

"This is my fault." He finally choked out, tears freely running down his face now.

No one in the room said anything as they occupants all mourned for the life that was lost. Martha, although sad for the obvious pain these people were in, was still confused on the Doctor's relationship to this parallel family. Did all of them get stuck in this universe? What in the world had happened?

"I want to see her." The Doctors whispered plea broke the heavy silence that filled the room.

"But –" Pete began, noticing the darkness outside the parlor window.

"Please ..." The sorrow that filled his voice broke Pete's reasoning.

"Come with me."

….

* * *

**Hello!**

**Dreamcatcher49; You are a lifesaver! Thank you so much for giving me the name of the story as well as the author and where to find it! (For those of view who wanted to know the story I was describing in my authors note two chapters ago it is called Vision by Darcie and is on Teaspoon.)**

**Dreamcatcher I said that the person who told me the story would be able to get a pre viewing of some chapters or a character in the story modeled after them. So if you would like any of that please PM me:) **

**Thank you all for reading!**

**Reviews make the next chapter come faster! ...and let me tell yeah...the next one will pick up the pace a bit **


	9. Chapter 9

Rose tugged at the restraints that held her body against the examination table, but grimaced as they tightened in response to her struggling. The shadow creature's had appeared outside her prison cell and proceeded to drag her into the lab she was now situated in. That had been almost an hour ago.

_What in the world is taking so long? _Rose thought as she tugged at the metal cords binding her. The cords had been pulled tightly against her stomach and chest and made breathing difficult.

A loud crash came from behind the door to the lab followed by distant yelling. The noise slowly faded away from the door. An eerie silence followed the loss of the commotion and Rose felt goose bumps rise on her arms. Something wasn't right.

A harsh bang against the door to the lab made Rose jolt. The familiar sound of the sonic screwdriver calmed her racing heart as the door slammed open.

"Rose Tyler, you have some explaining to do." The Doctor growled as he walked through the doorway taking in her labored breathing and the metal table she was laying on.

Rose grinned at the alien in front of her, as he walked up to the examination table.

"I take it Jack was the noise I heard earlier?"

He nodded mutely; keeping his attention on the cords as his large hands deftly maneuvered the restraints, allowing her breath to come easier.

"The cord is on a feed of electricity. I try to break them and you get fried." He rubbed his temples tiredly before returning his gaze to her torso. "Trust you to get into this kinda trouble."

Rose glared at the top of his head. "Well someone was going to get captured, might as well have been me."

The Doctor head jerked up, his eyes furious. "We have no idea who they are or what they want, and you just swagger up to the psychotic leader pretending to be a Time Lady- which you are going to explain to me how you got that kind of information later. They could have done anything to you Rose." His voice was calm but held an icy undertone that made Rose shiver.

"Doctor—"

"Got it." The cords fell from around her body and hit the floor with a dull thump.

The Doctor turned towards the door and Rose could practically see the anger radiating off his body.

"They're called the Vespine." He stopped in front of the door, his hand grazing the doorknob.

"Pravus, that's who caught us, he's their leader." Rose continued nervously, playing with the hem of her shirt. "He wants regeneration energy. This whole planet should have died out eons ago, but Pravus started this research program where they could harness energy from regenerative life forms and feed it into the planet's core."

The Doctor tuned back around, his face now full of concern.

"Who told you this?" He questioned quietly.

Rose felt guilt bubble in her stomach. She couldn't tell him that she had lived all of this before. Seen him scream in agony as the machine attempted to suck out his life force. Remembered the denial in his face when she had asked afterwards what exactly they were trying to harvest from him.

"You trust me don't you Doctor?" She asked, avoiding the question.

The urgent pounding at the door brought the two back into the situation at hand.

"Doc! We need to get out of here!" Jacks yelled from the other side of the door.

The Doctor grabbed Rose hand and pushed the Door open revealing the sight of a haggard looking Jack Harkness.

"Rose! Nice to see you."

"Right back at you." She grinned as the three sprinted down the hallway. She had missed this so much. The three of them together defending planets and taking names, team Tardis was back together and Rose felt happier then she had in years.

The group passed a small gray door and Rose's heart stopped. Her feet skidded on the cement flooring and pulled on the Doctors hand urging him to stop.

The Doctor gave her a questioning look which she ignored as she took in the chipped paneling and worn key pad that stuck out of the door. The feeling of dread became overpowering as she lifted her hand to trace the indentations.

"Rose honey, we have to go. Like yesterday." She felt Jacks hands on her shoulders coaxing her backward.

"I'll be five minutes."

"Rose, we're leaving. You're not going in there."

Rose turned to the two men standing behind her. "This isn't finished." She said firmly, taking each of their hands. "There's one last thing I have to do, it will just take a minute."

"Rose there is no way I am letting you though that door." With a sigh she looked up into the stormy blue eyes of the alien that stole her heart.

"Doctor, you have to let me finish this. If you trust me at all let me go."

"This isn't a matter of trust! It's you getting yourself killed, we only have minutes before the rest of the guards find us. You are not going."

The two glared at each other, neither willing to break eye contact.

"Doctor, you have to accept that I know more about the situation then you do and allow me to do the right thing."

The Doctors eyes held an untamable ferocity as he used his full height to tower over his blonde companion. "How do I know you will come back, huh? You've somehow gotten all this information about Time Lords and how do I know it hasn't gone right to your head? How do I know something's not possessing you or convinced you to do this? Because right now Rose, I have no idea what to do with you."

Rose watched as his eyes gave way the depth of his panic and the anger he was feeling at the loss of control. She knew there was no way he would willingly let her enter those doors.

Suddenly an idea struck her and Rose felt a small grin tug at her mouth. She took a step right up to the Doctor and grabbed the lapels of his familiar leather jacket, tugging the fabric down to smash his face to hers. His lips became paralyzed under the shock of her attack and Rose used the stillness to fervently take over his lips. She felt a slight tremor run through his body before two hands came up to grasp her waist and anchor her body to his. His soft lips caught hers and suddenly the Doctor was in control of the kiss and Rose gasped into his mouth. Using his momentary distraction she stroked up the Doctor's chest before reaching into his jacket pocket and grabbing the sonic screwdriver.

She tucked the device into her back pocket and let the kiss last a few more moments. She had so many fantasies of kissing her first Doctor and none of them were even comparable to what the real thing was like. His hands were exceedingly gentle as they stroked her waist and back, tracing patterns as he went, while leaving a trail of goose bumps on her skin. She could have never imagined how amazing his lips felt as he worshipped her own. How his scent seemed to flare so all she could breathe was spices and the musk that came from his leather jacket.

Regretfully, Rose quickly pushed herself off the Doctor and in a quick flick of the Sonic, had the door open and slipped inside.

The Doctor stared in shock for a moment at the door Rose had just disappeared through. He liked his lips slowly as he savored the taste of Rose of on his mouth. With a shake of his head he turned to face the unusually quiet captain.  
"Why doesn't Rose ever trick me like that?"

"Doesn't matter," The Doctor growled his anger flaring at the locked door. "She took my screwdriver and the guards will be coming any minute. I will be locking her in the Tardis after this is all over."

…

Rose walked slowly down the dark hallway, trying not to breath in the smell of rotted bodies and sickness. She kept her eyes focused on the ground in front of her, counting the edges of the cells as she went. This was where she had been kept the last time she had visited this place. In one of these cells she had begged for death.

Rose shook her head slightly to ride herself of the dark memories and focus on the task at hand.

Upon reaching the thirty-seventh cell, Rose raised her head and peaked inside. Shadows covered the room making only the outlines of a small mattress on the floor distinguishable.

"Hello?" Rose whispered softly.

Sudden movement in the corner of the cell brought her eye to a figure standing still in the shadows.

"You don't know me." Rose began. "But I'm a friend and I'm going to get you out of here."

The figure slowly moved forward to the edge of the shadows before stepping into the faint light that came from the small light bulb in the middle of the hallway.

A woman emerged her green eyes inquiring as she looked over Rose.

"And how do you know that I want to leave?"

Rose grinned, "Because I know you River, and I'm pretty sure you'd have Stormcage over this place."

* * *

**Hello!**

**Sorry for the wait! I have been flying all over the place this summer and havent had a lot of time to upload. But thank you for waiting and Reading! As always please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

Rose's heart sank as she took in Rivers distrustful gaze. "Look, I'm going to unlock this door and then I'll explain everything to you, okay?"

River shook her head. "The door has a deadlock seal; you won't be able to open it."

The blonde grinned smugly before holding up a small identification card she has swiped from the desk on her way in. "Unless you have the key."

She ran the card over the small black box in the corner of River's cell and with an audible beep, the doors swung open. Rose only had a moment to feel satisfied before both of her arms were pulled behind her back and she was slammed against the neighboring cell.

River leaned her face close to her ear. "I don't know who the hell you are, but I know a trap when I see one. Who sent you? Is this part of the mental exertion testing?" She tightened her grip on the strange girl and pushed her harder into the cell.

Rose grimaced as she felt a bruise forming where her check was digging into the bar. "It's not a trap River, we were friends and I can prove it, but you have to let me go."

"And why should I trust you?"

Rose rolled her eyes, everything came back to trust she couldn't prove. Irritated at getting slammed into a bar, she weighed the option of simply knocking River out and dragging her out of the cell block. Sadly she knew that her friend was more useful awake then unconscious.

"You shouldn't. But you have no idea how to get out of here and don't have the time to figure it out. The routine guard will be coming any minute."

There was silence while she waited for River to make the decision, after a moment she felt the grip on her arms loosened "Go ahead then, prove it."

Rose nodded before reaching for Rivers hands which she placed on her own temples.

"I know you're slightly telepathic. Go ahead take a look."

With an audible sigh River adjusted her hands on the strange woman's head before allowing their minds to connect.

The older woman gasped as her mind filled with blazing gold light.

_I know it's a bit overwhelming, just look for the door._ Rose's calm voice filled her head.

A plain white door appeared in front of her.

Without hesitation River reached for the handle and swung the door wide open.

_She was in a dark cell, the days had blurred into an endless night. The door to her cell opened and a young blonde girl was shoved through. She went to help her up._

"_What's your name?" She asked. _

"_Rose Tyler."_

Memories of a whole different experience flooded River's mind. Rose helping her stage a rebellion with the other prisoners. The pain of watching her fellow prisoner's die in their failed escape attempt. The two of them getting separated as they tried to break into the main lab.

River gasped as she was pushed back into her own head, stumbling slightly as she reached to the wall for support.

"Is that enough proof for you?"

She studied Rose, noting the tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. The flashback had obviously been hard for her.

"Just one more question before we break out of here. Assuming that's why you need my help." Rose nodded for her to continue.

"What you showed me looks quite a lot like an aborted time line. Are we going to be ripping apart the fabric of reality be changing events?"

Rose smiled. "Not at all."

"Damn, I do love a good end of the world crisis."

"Don't be so sure you won't see one." Rose said mysteriously.

"Well then," River grinned. "Geronimo."

…

"This was not what I had in mind when you said we were going to defeat Pravus and free all of the prisoners" River muttered, glaring at the blonde woman hanging in front of her.

The plan had been going beautifully. The two women had found the Central Matrix that regulated the energy beamed to the guards. Without it, the shadow like creatures would disintegrate and the Vespine would be incapacitated. It took only a shot from River's blaster to do just that. The Matrix was permanently destroyed and the two had set off to free the rest of the prisoners. It was only as they reached the cell block that they ran into a furious Pravus who swore their immediate death and chained them in the lab.

The two were now dangling from manacles connected to a metal beam raised a few inches off the ground, just enough that the two prisoners' feet couldn't touch and were fully supported by the shackles.

"Look River, I'm sorry I got you into this mess." Rose apologized. Anger at her own stupidity coursing through her blood, she wouldn't be able save anyone. They would all die because she was too stupid to fix what went wrong last time.

"You know sweetie, I can practically feel your self hatred all the way over here."

Rose's head shot up. River's voice hadn't come from in front of her, but from across the room.

River smiled from her perch on the examination table. "Lock-pick Bracelets," She said, shaking her wrist to show off the slim silver band. "Can get out of any handcuffs in the universe. I plucked them off an unsuspecting waitress in this little bar on omega 13." She jumped off the table and made her way towards Rose.

"They've gotten me out of more interesting situations than this." She smiled suggestively. She slipped the bracelets onto each of the blonde's writs. Rose watched curiously as the metal glowed slightly before the manacles clicked open sending Rose back to the ground.

"How do they work?" Rose asked, rubbing her wrists.

"The bracelet emits a frequency that opens the lock. A friend of mind has something like it in screwdriver form."

Rose's eyebrows furrowed. _Screwdriver form_?

Before she could question the coincidence a large explosion tore through the building sending both women to the ground.

"That would shock wave from the matrix being destroyed. This whole building is going to crumble."

"River, go get all the prisoners out. I'll stay here and distract Pravus."

The older woman nodded, making her way to the door.

"Don't get yourself killed!" Rose warned. River grinned, before running out of the room.

Rose shook her head as she climbed to her feet. She felt anger at herself boiling over. She had assumed that she could do this. That she could change what had happened here. But all she was doing was rearranging the events. People were still going to suffer if River couldn't get everyone out.

_At least I stopped the Doctor from being tortured._ Rose thought to herself. She had stopped some of his pain. And even if this was only an echo, it helped her to know that she helped in some small way.

Rose jumped as the door to the lab slammed against the wall.

"And where do you think you're going?" Pravus hissed. He walked into the room taking in the broken manacles and missing prisoner. "And where has your little friend gotten to?"

Rose did the math in her head. River would need at least twenty more minutes in order to get down to the cell block and get all of the prisoners out of the building. She needed to hold her captor's attention.

"Just try'n to escape." Rose said, keeping some distance between herself and Pravus.

"Escape! What an impossible dream you have." He laughed.

"Hey, it could happen." Rose defended, trying to keep him talking.

_Come on Tyler, think of something._

"I will tell you something young one. I will not let you live for all the trouble you have caused me. You have killed all my soldiers and now I will kill you." He drew a crude dagger from inside his robes. "I want you to feel it as I spilt open your skin and cut out your hearts. You will be awake until the last second and then only when I allow it, you will regenerate. Then we will begin again."

Rose cringed as he told of her torture. She looked desperately around the room for anything to defend herself with.

_Wait._

'_As I spilt open your skin and cut out your hearts'?_

_Even with one heart that could definitely take awhile. _

Without another thought Rose walked straight up to Pravus, took his daggered hand and shoved in into her stomach.

_Oh. _

Red blossomed in the corners of her vision as pain exploded from her abdomen.

Rose looked up into the vacant holes where eyes should be in her captors face. What passed for his mouth was hanging open in shock. He had not expected this.

Rose cringed as a new wave of pain spread through her body. _Of all her brilliant ideas…this certainly wasn't one of them._

Her vision went black and she hoped she had given River enough time to escape and she had somehow found The Doctor and Jack.

Muffled yelling reached her ears and she groaned. _Can't a dying woman get a little peace?_

"Rose_"_

The sound of her name caused some of the thick darkness to disperse.

"Please, Rose."

The Darkness disappeared and her vision quickly sharpened, as well as the pain spreading throughout her body. The Doctor's panic ridden face swam into view. She was in his arms, her body cradled against his leather coated body.

"Rose you're going to be okay, do you hear me? You need to hold on."

She seriously doubted this, but it was a pleasant thought so she humored him with a small smile.

"I'm Sorry Rosie, but this is gonna hurt." Jack's voice floated over to her.

Her stomach was suddenly aflame as Jack yanked the dagger out of her body. She cried out and the Doctor tightened his hold on her, whispering words of encouragement into her hair.

The flow of warm blood as it left her body was an interesting feeling.

Rose wondered what would happen when she died. This was just an echo of her memories, none of this really happened.

Another flood of pain ripped through her body.

It sure felt real though. Maybe she would just be allowed to die. She had no body to return to in the real world. It had been destroyed by the beam.

Technically, didn't that make her already dead? She thought she could make out Pravus's mangled body in the corner of her eye. Maybe they would share a cell in hell.

"Rose, look at me."

It was hard to keep her eyes open.

"Please Rose."

But she would do anything for him.

She opened her eyes and was surprised to find him crying. She reached a shaking hand up to stroke his face.

"Look Rose, you were Fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better companion. I was so lonely and you literally swung into my life and showed me that life was still worth living. You made me a better person and I don't know what I'm going to do without-" The Doctor broke off his eyes staring at the large blood stain spreading on her shirt.

Rose knew this was hard for him; fortunately she was getting quite good at their final goodbyes.

"I love you." She whispered smiling.

The Doctor looked back up at her face, his own contorted in pain. One rough hand cupped her face and his thumb stroked her cheek.

"Thank you." He leaned down and punctured his words with a chaste kiss.

And with the Doctor's lips on hers, Rose Tyler's world went black.

…

Rose awoke with a small gasp clutching her stomach tightly.

_What the hell? _She thought.

She was lying on a spotless white bed dressed in silk sheets that cost more than Rose made in a month working at Henrik's. She slipped out of the bed stumbling slightly. Her head was pounding, causing her memories to become slightly foggy.

_What in the world did I drink last night? And why can't I remember._

The room was spacious and even had its own balcony that opened to reveal a gorgeous view of London town. Ivory walls with gold leafing formed the master bedroom and Rose could see and large couch and fireplace peeking out from the adorning room.

Panicked at her unfamiliar surroundings, she walked back into the main room and started pacing the floor.

_Okay Rose_, _what's the last thing you remember happening._

She tried to think back but her memories drew a blank. With a huff of frustration Rose sank to the ground and rubbed her face tiredly. _How did I get in this mess? _

Stretching her legs out to relive some tension, her foot brushed fabric. _What the-?_

Rose looked up to see grey trousers that blended into the carpet. Curiously, she reached for the pants and started to dig through the pockets.

_Few pounds, lotto ticket, cigarette lighter, Ah! _

Rose grinned in triumph as she fished a wallet out of the back pocket of the pants. Opening it Rose took a look at the name her hands freezing in recognition.

No.

She clutched her head as memories came swarming back. UNIT, the Bad Wolf, River, Jack, and The Doctor all came back into her mind. Facing Parvus, stabbing herself with that dagger, the Doctor's kiss, she gasped in the overload of memories.

She glanced down at her body, immediately noticing the differences. A hand came up to her hair and she fingered the choppy strands.

With a new found determination, Rose picked herself up and walked to the door, leaving the wallet on the floor behind her. She knew that he would be coming back to get it.

And Jimmy Stone was never very happy when he forgot something.

* * *

**So,**

**Extremely disappointed at the lack of 50th anniversary trailer, so heres a longer chapter to make up for it. **

**Please Review, makes the updates faster and the author happier!**


	11. Chapter 11

Rose Tyler stepped out of the hotel and blinked in the afternoon sun. She observed the heavy shopping traffic that swarmed through the streets before turning and making her way out of the tourist district. She briskly walked until she was a good mile away from the hotel before ducking into an empty parking lot and slumping against a rusted dumpster.

Jimmy Stone.

Rose hadn't seen this one coming. She honestly thought she was going to die in that lab, so why was she still alive?

She groaned and rubbed her face tiredly. She didn't want a repeat of her whole life and she had no idea why she was even in this mess to begin with. Why couldn't Jane Brown just keep her little timeline machine to herself? Why couldn't Bad Wolf just stop this whole disaster from happening? Her younger self had said that she could find her way back to the Doctor. But was she simply referring to the shadow copy of her first Doctor?

She paused considering her younger self. She hadn't seen or heard from her since the confusion in the Tardis kitchen. The blonde leaned her head back against the dumpster and clenched her hands. This whole situation was unfair! When was the universe going to leave her alone and allow her some small portion of peace!

A low growl cut through Rose's musings, causing her head to snap up. The sound resembled that of a lion and seemed to be coming from the street. The blonde quickly picked herself up and peaked out into the deserted neighborhood.

"Get off!"

Rose whipped around in time to see a young man with dirty blond hair run out into the street with only one trainer on his foot, the other clad in a green sock.

She watched curiously as the man ran further down the road and was quickly followed by what appeared to be a giant three headed black lion carrying an orange trainer matching the one on the man's foot.

Jumping into action Rose ran after the two, enjoying the familiar adrenalin rush that came with a good chase. The sensation was short lived as she saw the stranger duck into an ally that she knew was a dead end, with the lion following soon after.

"Look, you don't have to eat me. In fact I think we would be much better friends if you didn't eat me." She heard the man say, followed by a deep roar from the lion's multiple heads.

Rose turned into the ally and shocked to find the mysterious man standing in the corner looking defiantly into the lion's three heads. She quickly scanned her surroundings, eyes landing on a rock the size of her fist.

"Oi! Ugly!" She shouted. The creature turned its three heads and growled at her. She snatched the rock and hurled it straight at the tin roofing of the adjoining building. The resulting sound vibrated through the ally causing Rose to grimace and the three headed lion to stagger backwards disoriented.

She quickly ran forward and grabbed the hand of the young man, pulling him out of the ally before the beast could regain its senses.

…

"What was that thing?" Rose asked as the two stood outside a small grocery store after outrunning the beast.

"Its…well…um…" She watched amused as he stumbled over his words. The man was around her age and had a very prominent nose that he managed to pull off well. He seemed to be uncomfortable with this entire situation and Rose found it very endearing.

"I'd say it was alien."She hinted, and watched as his head snapped up in shock. Rose felt relief wash over her. Finally, someone she could talk to about this timeline mess. He was obviously a time agent of some sort…though probably a relatively new one.

"Um, why would you say that?"

"I think the three heads kinda gave it away. And we really should go after it; it could be terrorizing the town as we speak."

"No, my friend's got it, I was just told to distract it while he went off and fixed the machine that brought it here in the first place. Soon as it's done it will zap that thing back to wherever it came from." He chuckled and tilted his head as he looked at her. "You're one of them aren't you?"

"One of who?"

"One of those people where this stuff doesn't faze them, where they can walk into situations with aliens and monsters and just laugh because to you it's completely normal." He looked at his green sock with a small frown. "I would love to be one of those people."

Rose felt her heart break as she saw the lost look in his eyes. "What's your name?"

"Rory." He said, staring at his socked foot.

"Well Rory, I don't know a whole lot about you. But I do know that when I saw you in the ally staring straight into the eyes of a giant three headed lion, I thought you looked anything but scared. You don't give yourself enough credit."

She leaned casually against the wall crossing her arms over her chest. "And I think that these feelings have more to them then you're giving me."

Rory sighed and joined her against the wall. "It's my fiancée. She's completely in love with the adventure and risk…I just don't think I can keep up with it all. I mean there's this other guy who is like the textbook example of danger and excitement and I feel like she would rather have all of that and I just—" He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. "By the way, you didn't seem scared of that thing either," He opened an eye and looked at her. "What's up with that?"

Rose laughed. "Oh I've been around a bit, met my fair share of aliens."

He nodded. "I'd believe that."

"Rory, I know it looks difficult right now, but I swear you are over thinking this. You were prefect back there and any doubt you have about your capabilities need to be ignored, trust me, I used to test people on this kind of thing." She said thinking back on Torchwood new recruit trainings.

His posture relaxed and he looked at her gratefully. "You think?"

"Definitely." She confirmed, pulling him into a hug.

"Not that I'm judging or anything, but what this about?" He asked after he pulled out of the hug, gesturing towards her clothes. Rose glanced down and frowned at her attire. She had left the hotel room in a haze of fright and anger, not even thinking about changing out of the silk pajama shorts and matching top. "It's a new look I'm working on." She shrugged.

Now that her attention was brought back to her body Rose couldn't help but notice the changes. Her hair was a choppy shoulder length mess that she had done herself in order to fit into jimmy's gang. It was its natural brown as she hadn't started dying it until after the break up. Her hip and ribs were both throbbing and no doubt would be dark purple if you checked. It was painful enough thinking back on these memories, but looking and feeling like the girl that experienced it was a whole new wave of pain.

"So," Rory began, bringing her back to the conversation. "You never told me your name."

"Rose." She grinned. "And I was wondering if I could get your help with-" She was cut off as a loud voice danced through the supermarket door.

"Rory! Been looking all over for you! Thought you might have been eaten by Francis, and that would have been a tremendous shame." Rose took a few steps back as a man in his early twenty's wearing the clothes of a professor came bounced up to Rory, a yellow Popsicle in his hand and a red headed woman in his wake.

"He decided to call it Francis, don't ask why." The woman said in a Scottish burr, walking up to Rory and pecking his cheek.

"So what have you been doing? London isn't the most eventful city in 2002, but if you know where you're going you can find loads of fun! For instance there's this restaurant a couple streets over that serves the most delicious cheese sandwiches, but only on Tuesday! The rest of the time its absolute rubbish—"

"Doctor." Rory snapped, ending the man's spiel and simultaneously causing Rose's heart to jump"

The man looked questioningly at Rory. "I met someone while distracting the lion thing." He said, ignoring the red headed woman questioning gaze.

"…Rory, how in the world could you have time to mingle while getting chased by a three headed Ringoir?" The bow tied man asked.

"Well she ended up saving me from being eaten, so I'd say it was more than mingling."

Amy's expression darkened. "She?"

Rory rolled his eyes and reached for Rose who had somehow migrated a few feet away from the group, not that they noticed caught up as they were in their own conversation. She took his hand hesitantly and was pulled into the make shift circle the three had formed and ended up looking straight into the obnoxious man's face. "This is Rose."

Rose suddenly found herself looking into hauntingly familiar eyes and feeling her heart sink down into her stomach. She saw desperation and longing mixed with the intensity that always made her shiver. He had regenerated. And she wasn't traveling with him. And she knew that it had been quite a long time since he had seen her.

"Rose." He whispered, his hand inching toward her before falling back to his side.

Hot tears slid down her cheeks, but Rose was too shocked to notice. She would never get back to the Doctor, that much was obvious. She would be stuck reliving these Time Lines and running into shadows of him until she simply stopped existing.

* * *

**Hello! **

**Had a crazy summer (so please forgive me) but updates should be coming more regularly now. Thank you to everyone that reviewed and PM'd me your feedback makes the updates faster and keeps me motivated. Also, know this is super late but yeah for Peter Capaldi!**


	12. Chapter 12

"_Rose." He whispered, his hand inching toward her before falling back to his side._

_Hot tears slid down her cheeks, but Rose was too shocked to notice. She would never get back to the Doctor, that much was obvious. She would be stuck reliving these Time Lines and running into shadows of him until she simply stopped existing. _

A soft hand on her cheek pulled her thoughts back to the present and Rose looked up to see this new Doctor brushing away her tears. "What wrong?" He asked, his eyes betraying a hint of panic.

She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to break down, this was just like any other Torchwood mission and she would finish it to completion.

"I'm fine." She said lightly, brushing the last of the tears away as well as his hand. "Just get emotional sometime's, no real reason."

The Doctor frowned. "No you don't."

Rose raised an eyebrow questioningly. Shouldn't he be pretending he had no idea who she was?

Rory continued seemingly oblivious to the tension between the pair. "Rose, this is my fiancée Amy and the Doc-" A hand was suddenly over Rory's mouth blocking any further speech.

"John Smith." The tweed Doctor said nodding at Rose.

"Nice to meet you."

His eyes ran over her body as if drinking in her presence and Rose shivered under his intense, clenching her hands to keep from running to him.

_You can't. He thinks your sixteen year old you, telling him anything about the future would ruin the timelines and cause paradoxes and….wait. _Realization dawned over Rose as a small grin worked its way onto her face. She was in a shadow time line. Time laws didn't work the same here. Rose couldn't risk divulging everything to the Doctor, but she could definitely toe the line.

With thoughtless courage Rose rushed forward and threw her arms around this new Doctor, burrowing her face into his neck. She felt his arms immediately tighten around her and his face press into her hair. "I missed you." She whispered into his tweed jacket.

She felt the Doctor's body tense and his grip move up towards her shoulders before pulling her back so she could see his troubled gaze. "What?"

"Doctor what's going on?" Amy asked, eyeing Rose suspiciously. "Do you know her?"

"No, course not Pond, she seems to just be in a state of shock which could result in the hugging and saying things she doesn't mean." He glanced pointedly down at Rose who rolled her eyes.

"And I'm sorry but we can't have you running off after seeing the Ringoir." He raised two fingers and placed them gently on Rose's temple stroking the skin softly.

"What are you doing to her?" Rory questioned, looking between the two.

"He's taking my memory of the alien." Rose said quietly glaring at the Doctor. "And I can't let you do that."

"You're going to have a very large effect on the future, and you can't know that alien exist just yet." He explained his eyes sad. Rose panicked as he fingers rearranged their grip on her head. If he looked into her head he would see everything, and she couldn't let that happen.

With an apologetic smile Rose bent her elbow and jabbed it forward into his stomach, not hard enough to damage but enough to effectively wind him. The Doctor fell backward gasping for breath looking shocked. She noticed Amy's fiery approach and quickly bent down and kissed his cheek.

"Allons-y" she said, grinning at his wide eyes as he fought to form words between pants.

With a final wave to a confused Rory, Rose Tyler ran away.

…

_"I want to see her." The Doctors whispered plea broke the heavy silence that filled the room._

_"But –" Pete began, noticing the darkness outside the parlor window._

_"Please ..." The sorrow that filled his voice broke Pete's reasoning._

_"Come with me."_

The Doctor walked silently beside Pete as the small group made their way down the path toward the Tyler family plot. The car ride had been a tense affair with the Doctor staring blankly out the window, while Martha and Pete attempted polite conversation. All pretenses of normalcy was dropped when the sleek black car arrived at the cemetery and the three occupants began the short trek with flashlights in hand. A shiver crept up Martha's back as she scanned the dark cemetery; in any universe they were creepy at night.

"This is it."

Pete's voice seemed unnaturally loud in the harsh silence causing Martha to flinch. She followed his outstretched finger to the stone slab peeking out of the ground.

Rose Marion Tyler

The name sat simply on beautiful gray granite with an embellishment of stars highlighting the stone. Martha was surprised at the simplicity; she had assumed that there would be some sort of statement, something like _Loving Daughter, or forever in our hearts. _There wasn't even a birth and death date.

She watched as the Doctor knelt in front of the stone; his face so overflowing with grief Martha didn't even know how to comfort him. The distressed alien raised a shaking hand to trace the outline of the woman's name.

"Rose" He whispered, tears falling freely down his face.

"Why did she do it?" Martha quietly asked after a moment, turning towards Pete.

The man swallowed, considering the question. "She was unhappy here, everybody could see it. She threw herself into field work a week after she got here and it became her life. She would work 18 hour shifts and sleep on the med lab beds. It wasn't until the beginning of this year that she started to become adjusted. Bought herself a flat, came over to the mansion at least twice a week, started to actually manage a life. We thought she was doing so much better, and then we got the email from her about a Norway vacation and the next time we see her, she's dead." He focused on the ground, blinking rapidly.

The Doctor stood abruptly drawing the attention of his companions. He reached into his trench coat pocket and carefully withdrew a golden flower. Martha gasped as she noticed the plant seemed to radiate a soft glow that cast shadows across the Doctor's broken face. He bent down to move the assortment of bouquets and wreaths to make room for his single offering. He set the stem of the flower into the dirt and Martha watched amazed as roots sprung from the stem and laced itself into the ground.

"What is it?" she asked in wonder.

"It's from my planet. We didn't have roses, but this is the closet translation." He stroked the head stone softly before bending down and pressing his lips to the engraved name. Martha watched concerned as the Doctor's body went rigid.

"Doctor?" she asked, taking in his odd posture.

He suddenly jumped to his feet, causing Martha to tumble backward into Pete. The Doctor ran his tongue over his lips his eyes full of hope.

"Peter Tyler!" He announced suddenly, "I'm going to need a shovel!"

…

The tears were expected.

They stung her eyes and mixed with the sweat that coated her face. She ran the four miles from the grocery store without stopping and the emotional distress was now hitting her.

Rose looked out over the bridge she had stopped at. It was effectively in the middle of nowhere and seemed to fit in with the stormy skies and ragging water that ran below.

She didn't find the Doctor.

It was a difficult concept to accept. After all her work on the dimension cannon and Torchwood and all this stupid time line crap, she never got back to him.

It hurt. It hurt so damn much.

She closed her eyes and felt the light breeze as it dried her wet face. She knew from experience that wallowing wasn't going to do anything. There were still aliens to fight, people to save, species to meet. Life would go on.

With a sigh Rose leaned heavily on the stone railing. As much as she knew it wasn't the end of the world, she still didn't particularly want to keep living this time line.

_Do I have to die every time? _Rose grimaced, thinking back to lab. It was her only lead at the moment, so with a brave face, she climbed onto the stone railing.

The sound of the rushing water seemed to intensify as she attempted to squelch her nerves. The fall was about hundred feet and the rush of vertigo that hit almost made her fall backward.

Quieting her natural instinct of self-preservation, Rose lifted her arms and let herself fall forward.

She expected the rush of air past her ears before the painful connection of her body to the water. She did not expect the large force that hit her from the side causing her body to slam back onto the bridge. She gasped at the sharp pain radiating from her side before turning to see what had hit her.

"Jack?"

* * *

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